Study of the 2002 Arizona youth survey: gang membership among youth

Arizona Criminal Justice Commission
Statistical Analysis Center Publication
O u r mission is to sustain and enhance the coordination, cohesiveness, productivity and effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System in Arizona
A Study of the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey: Gang Membership Among Youth
September
2004
ARIZONA CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION
RALPH OGDEN Yuma County Sheriff
Chairperson
DENNIS GARRETT Department of Public Safety Director
Vice-Chairperson
JOSEPH ARPAIO Maricopa County Sheriff
DUANE BELCHER Board of Executive Clemency Chairperson
JIM BOLES City of Winslow Mayor
DAVID K. BYERS Administrative Office of the Courts Director
RON CHRISTENSEN Gila County Board of Supervisors
CLARENCE DUPNIK Pima County Sheriff
TONY ESTRADA Santa Cruz County Sheriff
TERRY GODDARD Attorney General
BARBARA LAWALL Pima County Attorney
ROD MARQUARDT Mohave County Chief Probation Officer
J.T. McCANN Flagstaff Police Department Chief
RICHARD MIRANDA Tucson Police Department Chief
ROBERT CARTER OLSON Pinal County Attorney
RICHARD M. ROMLEY Maricopa County Attorney
DORA SCHRIRO Department of Corrections Director RICHARD YOST El Mirage Police Department Chief
CHRISTOPHER SKELLY Judge, Retired
JOHN BLACKBURN, JR. Executive Director CHUCK KATZ, Ph.D. Arizona State University West STEVE BALLANCE Statistical Analysis Center Director
The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission and the Statistical Analysis Center would like to thank the students and schools that participated in the Arizona Youth Survey, allowing for the publication of this report. We would like to recognize the principle investigator for this report, Charles M. Katz, Ph.D. from Arizona State University West for his dedication and hard work in completing this study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Steve Harrison, Bach Harrison, L.L.C. Jean Ajamie, Arizona Department of Education Sheila Hoppe, Governor's Division of Drug and Gang Policy Lieutenant Dan Mitchell, Arizona Department of Public Safety Denise Muller, Arizona Department of Education Richard Porter, Arizona Department of Health Services Lisa Schumaker, Arizona Department of Health Services Nicole Yancey, Governor's Office, Division for Children
TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF THE REPORT STUDY OVERVIEW Participants Measures SURVEY FINDINGS: CORRELATES OF GANG INVOLVEMENT Proportion of Youth that are Gang Members Demographic Characteristics of Gang and Nongang Youth Family Background of Gang and Nongang Youth Age of First Gang Involvement Reasons to Join the Gang Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Membership THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GANGS, CRIME, AND DRUGS Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales THE IMPACT OF GANGS ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR, AND CLIMATE SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS APPENDIX A ? Item Construct Dictionary 1 4 5 6 6 7 11 11 12 13 15 16 17 19 19 35 40 43
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Youth gangs are a problem for communities and law enforcement and have been growing over the past two decades. According to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, the National Youth Gang Survey results "estimated that youth gangs were active in over 2,300 cities with populations over 25,000 in 2002." Law enforcement in the state indicate that Arizona is no exception to the national gang problem. This report seeks to advance our understanding of the scope and nature of the gang problem in Arizona. In particular, this report focused on three major issues: (1) the correlates of gang involvement; (2) the relationship between gangs, crime, and drugs; and (3) the impact of gang participation on school performance, school behavior, and school climate. These issues were examined using data from the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey. The survey was randomly administered to 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students in 63 schools across the state resulting in 12,203 valid surveys. The Arizona Youth Survey was based on the Communities That Care model that examines risk and protective factors in four domains: community, family, school, and individual-peer. Each of the domains were developed as part of the social development model (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996), which focuses on how risk and protective factors work in concert with one another to influence pro-social and delinquent behavior. In sum, their model posits that socialization processes are similar for those who engage in pro-social or delinquent behavior. Students who said they were gang members were less likely to live with two parents than nongang members (70.7 percent compared to 56.3). The data also showed that gang members were about three times more likely to live with someone other than a parent when compared to nongang members. About half of 8th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 12 years old or younger. Similarly, 50 percent of 10th and 12th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 13 years old or younger. Gang members were more likely to have used alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and any drug in their life-time compared to nongang members. The pattern was even more pronounced when 30-day drug use and sales between gang and nongang members were compared. In particular, gang members are two to three times more likely to use a specific drug than their same sex, nongang peers. Native American and African American gang members were the most likely to have reported marijuana use and Native American and Hispanic gang members were the most likely to have reported cocaine use when compared to the other ethnic groups. Almost all gang members, regardless of ethnicity, had used alcohol within their life-time, and the majority had used alcohol within the past 30 days. Gang membership was found to be a strong predictor of drug sales, with gang members being about three to six times more likely to sell drugs than nongang members. About 30 percent of female gang members and almost 40 percent of male gang members had sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to four percent of nongang females and 10 percent of nongang males. Approximately 11 percent of
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female gang members and 21 percent of male gang members reported that they had frequently sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to 1.3 percent and 4.4 percent of nongang females and males, respectively. These findings suggest that female gang members are not simply "wanna-be" gang members or the "girlfriends" of gang members; rather, this research suggests that female gang members engage in the same types of delinquency, drug use, and sales as their male peers, albeit at a lower frequency. These results contrast with the fact that female gang members only make up about 10 percent of documented gang members in the state of Arizona. Approximately seven percent of males in the state self-admitted to gang membership and 4.6 percent of females self-admitted to gang membership, with minority males being the most likely to self-admit to gang membership. Almost 40 percent of the total number of students who self-admitted to gang membership were female, and a substantial number of Native Americans self-admitted to gang membership (10.7 percent). Of those that identified themselves as gang members, 77 percent were minorities. Approximately 32 percent of those self-admitting to being in a gang were age 13 and under. Gang members were 3.4 times more likely to bring a weapon to school (in the past 30 days) and 10.5 times more likely to bring a gun to school (in the past 12 months) than nongang members. Additionally, gang members were almost four times more likely to have been frequently drunk or high at school, nearly five times more likely to have been frequently threatened or injured at school, and over nine times more likely to be in six or more fights at school within a 12 month period than nongang members. Respondents who attended schools with a serious gang problem were more likely to report delinquency and victimization than students attending schools with a minor or moderate gang problem. Those attending schools with a serious gang problem were roughly three times more likely to report frequently getting into fights, repeatedly being threatened/injured with a weapon, and frequently bringing a handgun to school when compared to students attending schools with minor or moderate gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were also significantly more likely to report being drunk or high six or more times at school and were more likely to report bringing a weapon to school within the past 30 days. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were almost three times more likely to report not feeling safe at their school compared to respondents attending schools with a minor gang problem. This was further evidenced by the fact that 10 percent of those attending a school with a serious gang problem reported missing at least one day of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe on their way to school or at school. Respondents attending schools with a serious gang problem were five times more likely to miss four or more days of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school compared to respondents attending a school with a minor gang problem. The findings reported here have policy implications for prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. Prevention efforts and resources should be targeted
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toward youth who are exposed to more risk factors. Decreasing the number of risk factors in the environment of these youth is needed to prevent future gang membership and criminality. Most youth were found to be pulled into the gang for reasons of friendship, these gang members were the least likely to want to leave their gang. On the other hand, some gang members were pushed into their gang for protection or for family reasons. These individuals were the most likely to want out of their gang. As a consequence, a single, broad-based intervention strategy targeted toward all gang youth will not likely have an effect, rather different intervention strategies are needed to address the specific factors influencing gang membership, if such efforts are going to be successful.
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INTRODUCTION Over the past 20 years, the United States has seen a dramatic resurgence of gangs, gang members, and gang crime. In the 1970s, one was hard pressed to find many cities with a gang problem. In fact, in 1976 the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals went so far as to state, "Youth gangs are not now [n]or should not become a major obstacle of concern...Youth gang violence is not a major crime problem in the United States...what gang violence does exist can fairly readily be diverted into `constructive channels' especially through the provision of services by community agencies" (as cited by Spergel, 1995: 9). Today, however, almost every city in the United States with a population over 100,000 reports having a gang problem. Of further concern is the fact that the gang problem is no longer restricted to large cities, but that gangs are prevalent in many small and medium size cities as well. For example, 81 percent of cities with a population between 50,000 and 99,999 and 59 percent of cities with a population between 25,000 and 49,000 report having an active youth gang problem (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999: Table 4). Therefore, it should not be surprising that public concern about the nation's gang problem has escalated substantially. Prior to 1985, national polls examining community problems did not find that gangs or gang problems registered as a major concern among those polled; however, by 1994, gang violence ranked as the third most important issue facing America--behind education and drugs and before overall crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995: Table 2.3). The state of Arizona has been no exception. Official records from a number of criminal justice agencies across the state have confirmed that the gang problem has been worsening in Arizona since the 1980s. This follows a national pattern of gang activity increasing steadily during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990, in an effort to continually monitor the gang problem, the state legislature mandated the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission to provide information about gangs and gang-related crimes. As a result, since 1990, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission has administered an annual gang survey to state, county and city law enforcement agencies in Arizona. The survey, in part, has focused on the scope and nature of the state's gang problems along with the many individual factors associated with gang membership, such as demographic characteristics and the amount of crime that can be attributed to gang members. In an effort to minimize the effect of the lack of resources that individual agencies were able to devote to suppressing and eliminating criminal street gang activities, the Gang Intelligence and Team Enforcement Model (GITEM) was developed in 1993 to allow agencies to work together using standardized procedures, data and definitions. This concept has worked well in limited areas but has been constrained by a lack of funding for statewide implementation. HB 2003 and SB 1291 were passed by the state legislature to fund GITEM however, this funding has been stripped recently; because of budget limitations.
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While these reports have provided criminal justice officials, policymakers, and the public with valuable information on the nature of the gang problem in Arizona, the data is primarily driven by surveying law enforcement agencies to report the number, size, type of gangs, along with associated illegal gang activities through tabulation of official crime statistics. It is important to recognize the limitations of this perspective as well as the potential benefits in examining the issue through an alternative means such as selfreport data through the Arizona Youth Survey. There are two limitations associated with using crime-driven data. The first is that gang data obtained from law enforcement agencies is often times incomplete for the purposes of obtaining accurate estimates of gang involvement among youth. (Hagedorn, 1990; Zatz, 1987, Chesney-Lind et al., 1990, McCorkle and Miethe, 1998; Katz, 2003) (However, for exception see Katz, 2000). Gang files maintained by police are usually compiled using data associated with ongoing gang activity. Gang members are identified as active, added to an agency's list, and remain on that list indefinitely. Because resources are focused on ensuring newly identified gang members are added to the database, little effort is made to remove individuals when they cease to be a gang member, or are no longer active in the gang for which they were originally put on the list for. This creates lists that may include gang members long after they cease gang activity (Spergel, 1995: 15). Subsequently, this produces inflated estimates of the current number of gang members, thereby producing less valid conclusions about the nature of the gang problem. Police-based data also can be misleading as it defines gang membership solely in terms of a police problem. For example, in one agency study, Spergel and Curry (1990) state that, "Our interest in youth gangs was defined primarily in law enforcement terms. Therefore, this study deals mainly with high-profile youth gangs who have come to police attention usually for violent, but sometimes for various other kinds of criminal behavior" (p. 289). Gang members are included in police databases when they commit, or are suspected of committing, criminal activity. This practice can fail to capture people who are involved in the gang but have not been apprehended for criminal activity or are not directly involved in criminal activity. Consequently, law enforcement reports on gangs only include individuals who are the focus of evident criminal gang activity. While information is needed on gangs as a crime problem, over-reliance on any one data source may create assumptions based on data that does not accurately reflect the entire gang problem. Self-report survey data allows for further examination and a more comprehensive view as to the nature and scope of gang behavior. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT The purpose of this report is to use self-report data from a general sample of school-aged youth to examine the nature and scope of Arizona's gang problem. In particular, this report is intended to supplement data found in the yearly report on gangs conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The objective of this
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report is to provide different types of information on gangs to gain a more comprehensive view of the gang problem. Analyses were organized into three themes: (1) The correlates of gang involvement; (2) The relationship between gangs, crime, and drugs; (3) The impact of gangs on school performance, school behavior, and school climate. These analyses were used to determine the implications of gang participation among Arizona youth. STUDY OVERVIEW This report on gangs is part of a larger study, the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey. The Arizona Youth Survey was conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission with technical assistance from the Southwest Prevention Center at the University of Oklahoma. The study is conducted on a semi-annual basis and is used to inform policy makers regarding youth drug use and delinquency in the state. As such, site selection and sampling procedures were dictated by that study's design. Participants Records provided by the Arizona Department of Education were used to identify all schools in the state. First, schools were stratified by county to ensure that a proportionate number of schools and students were sampled from each of the Arizona's 15 counties. Second, because the study was limited to students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grade, schools that did not offer these grades were removed from the sample. Third, schools were categorized into types representing the size of the school (large, medium, and small) and the grade levels that were taught in each school (i.e., kindergarten through 12th grade, 6th through 8th grade, 9th through 12th grade). Schools were then randomly selected from each category. If a school refused to participate in the study, another school from the same category was randomly selected as a replacement. Of the original 59 schools that were asked to participate in the study, 30.5 percent refused. When compared to other similar studies, the school refusal rate was quite low (e.g., Johnston et al., Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2001). With a confidence interval of .95, the sample of 63 schools had a margin of error for each grade of less than + 1.5 percent, and, as such, provided a uniquely geographic and demographically diverse sample. Furthermore, for the counties, the overall sample of students produced a margin of error of less than +5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. At the selected sites, questionnaires were administered to all students in each respective grade that were in attendance on the specified day. Passive consent procedures were used to obtain consent from parents for their child's participation in the study (i.e., parents were requested to inform the school if they did not want their child to participate in the study). The number of parents refusing to allow their child to participate in the study was very low, ranging from .3 percent to 5.6 percent. As a
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result, participation rates in this study were quite high, with 66.9 to 95.8 percent of students in attendance on the day of the survey completing the questionnaires, resulting in a total sample of 12,909. Initial analysis of the data showed that some of the respondents did not provide valid information. Several strategies were employed to assess the honesty of respondents' answers. For example, one question asked about a nonexistent drug and another question, at the end of the survey, asked the respondent how honest they were in answering the questions in the survey. If the respondents indicated that they had used the nonexistent drug or indicated that they were "not honest at all" in completing the survey, they were removed from the sample. Additionally, some respondents self-reported an impossibly high amount of drugs and some respondents did not respond to a large number of the questions. These questionnaires were also removed from the sample. As such, 706 (or 5.4 percent) of the surveys were eliminated from the analysis, leaving a total of 12,203 for analysis. Measures The questionnaires given to the students were developed as part of a larger project called the Six-State Consortium, led by the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington. The goal of the Consortium was to develop a survey instrument that could be used by all six states to examine risk and protective levels associated with drug use. The survey used in this study is also used by the Diffusion Consortium project that involves seven states and is funded by four federal agencies: the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).
Gang Membership. Gang membership was the primary outcome variable used for these analyses. Respondents were asked if they had been a gang member in the past and whether they were a current gang member. Esbensen and colleagues (1993, 1996, 2002) have frequently and repeatedly found that self-nomination for gang membership "is a particularly robust measure of gang membership capable of distinguishing gang from nongang youth" (Esbensen et al., 2001: 124). In one study Esbensen et al. examined about 6,000 middle school students using a continuum with five increasingly restrictive definitions for gang membership. They reported that "the largest distinction...is that between those youths who claim to never have been a gang member and those who claim gang affiliation at some time (p. 124). As such, for the purposes of this study, respondents who self-reported that they where either a former or current or gang member were initially considered "gang members." The definition of a gang member was further restricted by following Esbensen et al.'s lead of asking respondents if they could name the gang to which they belonged. This procedure helped to distinguish between those who were members of informal peer groups and gangs. Only those respondents who could provide the name of their gang were considered gang members for this report. Therefore, the final sample of
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gang members consisted of those who either self-admitted having been in a gang or admitted to current gang membership, and those who could name their gang. The respondents were asked several questions about their socio-demographic and familial background. Sociodemographic questions included measures of the respondent's ethnicity, gender, age, and grade. With regard to their family backgrounds, questions were asked that related to the respondent's parental arrangement, number of siblings, the educational attainment of their mother and father, and the primary language spoken at home.
Socio-Demographic and Familial Background.
Gang Involvement. Several questions measured the respondent's involvement in gangs, beyond those used for the outcome measure. These included questions about the age the respondents first joined their gang and why the respondents joined their gang. Additionally, the survey instrument included a measure of the number of their best friends that were gang members and the individual's level of involvement in his/her gang.
factors used in the analyses. The measures are organized according to the four domains: community, family, school, and individual-peer. Each of the domains were developed as part of the social development model (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996), which focuses on how risk and protective factors work in concert with one another to influence pro-social and delinquent behavior. In sum, their model posits that socialization processes are similar for those who engage in pro-social or delinquent behavior; namely, that behavior is influenced by: (1) an individual's involvement with pro-social or delinquent peers (differential association theory); (2) that it is learned when costs and rewards are attached to behavior (social learning); and (3) the degree to which a youth becomes bonded to pro-social or delinquent individuals (social control) (Battin-Pearson, et al., 1998:2).
Risk and Protective Factors. Exhibit 1 summarizes the risk and protective
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Community Low neighborhood attachment Community disorganization Transition and mobility Laws and norms favorable to drug use
Exhibit 1: Risk and Protective Factors Organized by Domain
Family Poor family management Conflict History of antisocial behavior Parental attitudes favorable toward drug use Parental attitudes favorable to antisocial behavior Attachment Opportunities for positive involvement Rewards for conventional involvement School Academic Failure
Perceived availability of drugs Perceived availability of guns Opportunities for positive involvement Rewards for conventional involvement
Little commitment to school Opportunities for positive involvement Rewards for conventional involvement
Individual-Peer Early initiation of drug use Early initiation of antisocial behavior Antisocial behavior Favorable attitudes towards antisocial behavior Favorable attitudes toward drug use
Perceived risks of drug use Friends' use of drugs Interaction with antisocial peers Sensation seeking Rewards for antisocial involvement Social skills Belief in moral order
The community domain included eight factors (or scales) associated with the area in which the respondent lived. It included scales associated with neighborhood attachment (three items); community disorganization (five items); transitions and mobility (five items); laws and norms favorable to drug use (eight items); perceived availability of drugs (five items); perceived availability of guns (one item); opportunities for positive involvement (six items); rewards for conventional involvement (three items). The family domain consisted of eight factors related to the individual's family history, behavior, involvement, and attitudes. It included factors focusing on family management (nine items); conflict (three items); history of anti-social behavior (10 items); parental attitudes favorable to anti-social behavior (three items); attachment (four items); opportunities for positive involvement (three items); and rewards for conventional involvement (four items). The school domain contained four factors focused on the respondent's performance, commitment, and opportunities at school. Specifically, the four scales were constructed of questions centering on academic failure (two items); little commitment to school (nine items); opportunities for positive involvement (five items); and rewards for conventional involvement (four items). The individual-peer domain included 12 factors. These 12 factors were associated with the individual's attitudes and behavior and his/her peer's attitudes and
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behavior. It included scales associated with rebelliousness (three items); early initiation of drug use (14 items); early initiation of anti-social behavior (four items); anti-social behavior (11 items); favorable attitudes towards anti-social behavior (five items); favorable attitudes toward drugs (four items); perceived risks of drug use (four items); friends' use of drugs (four items); interaction with anti-social peers (six items); sensation seeking (three items); rewards for antisocial behavior (four items); social skills (four items); and belief in moral order (four items). Accordingly, there were a total of 23 risk factor scales and nine protective factor scales that were measured through the survey instrument. Each of the scales appeared to be reliable, with an average alpha value of .79. For a dictionary containing each item for each protective and risk factor scale see Appendix A. Scores for each factor were dichotomized to indicate whether the respondent was at high risk or protection. This strategy was used to make the interpretation of the findings more easily interpretable. Cut points were calculated to determine whether an individual was at high risk or protection using the procedure recommended by Briney et al., (2002). Specifically, for the risk factor scales a median cut point was used, plus .15 times the mean absolute deviation (MAD), and for the protective factor scores a median cut point, minus .15 times the mean absolute deviation (MAD) was used. This procedure was used because it was shown to more accurately differentiate between those who exhibited a behavior of interest and those who do not, when compared to other, more commonly used cut-point procedures (e.g., Farrington, 1989; Herrenkohl et al., 2000).
Delinquency, Drug Use and Drug Sales. Several questions were also used to assess the extent to which respondents were involved in delinquency, drug use and drug sales. These behaviors were measured using two sets of six items. First, one set of questions measured the age at which the respondent engaged in a specific behavior. The heading for the set of questions read, "How old were you when you first..." Specific items included, "Had more than a sip or two of beer, wine, or hard liquor," "Smoked Marijuana," "Used cocaine or crack," "Got arrested," "Carried a handgun," "Attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them." Responses for age were scored on a nine point response scale (0=never have, 1=10 years old or younger, 2=11 years old, 3=12 years old, 4=13 years old, 5=14 years old, 6=15 years old, 7=16 years old, 8=17 years old or older). This question was dichotomized to indicate whether the respondent had ever engaged in the behavior. Another set of questions asked the respondents how often they had engaged in specific forms of delinquency, drug use, and drug sales. One set of questions asked the respondents "How many times in the past 12 months have you..." Items measuring this behavior included, "carried a hand gun", "sold illegal drugs", "stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or motorcycle", "been arrested", and "attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them." Several additional questions focused on how many occasions (if any) the respondent used a specific drug in the past 30 days. This question was asked for alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. A seven-point response scale was used (0=0 occasions, 1=1-2 occasions, 2=3-5 occasions, 3=6-9 occasions, 4=10Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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19 occasions, 5=20-39 occasions, 6=40 or more occasions). Because of the few number of respondents who indicated that they had engaged in any of the behaviors more than six times, each variable was truncated so that all responses indicating that the behavior had occurred more than six times were recoded into one category to reduce the skewness of the data. asked several questions about their school behavior, performance, and climate. First, two questions looked at school performance. One measured the number of whole school days the respondent missed due to skipping in the past 30 days, and another how many times that student had been suspended in the past 12 months. Second, five questions focused on school behavior. In particular, respondents were asked how many times in the past 12 months they had been (1) threatened or injured with a weapon at school; (2) in a fight in school; (3) drunk or high at school; and (4) taken a handgun to school. An additional question asked the respondent how many times in the past 30 days they had carried a weapon to school. Three different response scales were used for the above measures; consequently it was not possible to categorize them into similar scales. However, once again, the scales were truncated to reduce skewness. Issues related to school climate and gangs were also examined. Data on gang membership was aggregated by school. This allowed us to examine the prevalence of gang members at each surveyed school and examine the effect that the prevalence of gang membership had on school climate. Those schools that were one standard deviation above the mean in terms of the proportion of students that were selfidentified gang members were categorized as "Schools with a Serious Gang Problem." Conversely, schools that were one standard deviation below the mean with regard to the proportion of students that were self-identified gang members were categorized as "Schools with a Minor Gang problem." All schools within the standard deviation were categorized as "Schools with a Moderate Gang Problem." Two other school climate measures were used to examine fear. One question asked the respondent "I feel safe at school" and had a "yes" or "no" response scale. Another more specific question relating to fear asked the respondent, "During the past 30 days, on how many days did you not go to school because you felt you would be unsafe at school or on the way to or from school?" The response scale for this question was truncated as well so that those responses that indicated that the student missed school four or more times in the past month were collapsed into one category (i.e., 0= 0 times, 1=1 time, 2=2-3 times, 3=4 or more times). SURVEY FINDINGS: CORRELATES OF GANG INVOLVEMENT Proportion of Arizona Youth that are Gang Members The analyses showed that the proportion of youth involved with gangs varied by demographic variables. As seen in Exhibit 2, about seven percent of males in the state self-admitted to gang membership and 4.6 percent of females self-admitted to gang
School Behavior, Performance, and Climate. The respondents were also
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membership. With regard to ethnicity, 11 percent of African Americans self-reported that they were gang members, followed by 10.7 percent of Native Americans, 9.6 percent of Hispanics, 5.0 percent of Asians, 2.6 percent of Whites and 6.6 percent of those from other ethnic groups.
Exhibit 2: Percent of Arizona Youth that are Gang Members by Demographic Characteristics
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Fe m al M e al e W hi te Af ric an Na tiv e Hi Am er ica n sp an ic As ia n Ot he r
11.0
10.7 9.6
7.2 5.0
6.6
4.6 2.6
Am er ica n
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Demographic Characteristics of Gang and Nongang Youth Of those that identified themselves as gang members almost 49 percent were Hispanic, 23 percent were White, 19 percent were Native American, 4.4 percent were African American, and 1.9 percent were Asian (See Exhibit 3). Interestingly, about 40 percent of self-proclaimed gang members were females. With respect to age and grade, approximately 32 percent of the gang sample was 13 and under, 40.2 percent were 14-15 years old, and 28.3 percent were 16 or older. Likewise, 36.7 percent of the gang members were in the 8th grade, 41.4 percent were in the 10th grade, and 21.9 percent were in the 12th grade. Exhibit 3: Demographic Characteristics of Gang and Nongang Youths Nongang Gang Ethnicity White 53.8 22.8 African American 2.3 4.4 Native American 9.8 18.7 Hispanic 29.0 48.9 Asian 2.2 1.9 Other 3.0 3.3 Gender Female 51.6 39.7 Male 48.4 60.3 Age 13 & under 27.0 31.5 14-15 40.2 40.2 16 & over 32.8 28.3 Grade 8th 27.6 36.7 10th 40.9 41.4 12th 31.5 21.9 Family Background of Gang and Nongang Youth Exhibit 4 shows that there were substantial differences between gang and nongang members with respect to their family background. Gang members were less likely to live with two parents (70.7 percent compared to 56.3) and more likely to live with a single parent (24.2 percent compared to 28.9 percent) than nongang members. However, the most pronounced difference between gang and nongang members was related to those youth that lived with someone other than a parent. In particular, the data showed that gang members were about three times more likely to live with someone other than a parent (i.e., foster home, friend, aunt, uncle, grandparent, etc.) when compared to nongang members. The exhibit also illustrates that the parents of gang members have less education than the parents of nongang members. The parents of gang members were more likely to have not graduated from high school and
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were about half as likely to have graduated from college as the parents of nongang members. There were also differences between gang and nongang member's home life in terms of the primary language used at home and the number of siblings residing at home. Gang members were significantly less likely to speak English at home. When at home, 68.6 percent of gang members spoke English, 24.5 percent spoke Spanish, and 6.9 percent spoke another language, compared to nongang members whom 83.1 percent spoke English, 14.3 percent spoke Spanish, and 2.6 percent spoke another language. Gang members also had more brothers and sisters living with them at home. About 66 percent of gang members lived with three or more siblings compared to about 49 percent of nongang members. Exhibit 4: Family Background of Gang and Nongang Youth Nongang Gang Parental Arrangement Intact Family 70.7 56.3 Single Parent 24.2 28.9 Other 5.0 14.8 Number of Siblings None 4.7 2.3 1 21.1 10.8 2 25.5 19.4 3 17.7 20.3 4 11.9 16.4 5 6.9 9.1 6 or more 12.1 21.6 Language Used at Home English 83.1 68.6 Spanish 14.3 24.5 Other 2.6 6.9 Father's Education Non-High School Graduate 13.6 18.4 High School Degree 57.6 67.9 College or Graduate Degree 28.8 13.7 Mother's Education Non-High School Graduate 14.6 24.4 High School Degree 54.0 58.0 College or Graduate Degree 31.4 17.6
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Age of First Gang Involvement While the age of first gang involvement varied substantially by grade, the data generally showed that youth were very young when they first started to become involved with gangs. As seen in Exhibits 5 and 6, about 50 percent of 8th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 12 years old or younger. Similarly, 50 percent of 10th and 12th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 13 years old or younger. Exhibit 5: Age of First Gang Involvement by Grade 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade 10 or younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or older 20.5 12.0 21.8 32.1 10.7 1.7 0.0 1.3 14.1 7.2 10.1 22.7 21.7 12.6 8.3 3.2 18.9 8.1 8.8 19.6 14.9 10.8 8.8 10.1
Age
Exhibit 6: Age of First Gang Involvement by Grade
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 8th Grade 10 or younger 11 10th Grade 12 13 14 15 16 12th Grade 17 or older
Percent
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Reasons to Join the Gang Reasons why the individual chose to join his/her gang was looked at by gang involvement and grade level. The findings in Exhibit 7 showed that former and current gang members most often joined their gang because of friendship. In other words, they joined their gang because they already had friends that were gang members and the gang was part of their social network. Of interest, is the finding that many of those self-reported gang members who indicated they joined a gang for reasons of protection/safety or because they had a parent that was in the gang wanted out of their gang. Exhibit 7: Reasons for Joining a Gang by Level of Gang Involvement
Former Protection/Safety Friendship Parents are in a gang Other 21.7 35.0 0.0 43.4 8th Grade Current 19.0 34.5 1.2 45.2 Would Like Out 31.6 15.8 5.3 47.4 Former 18.9 42.9 2.9 35.4 10th Grade Current 20.8 40.6 6.3 32.3 Would Like Out 25.0 33.3 16.7 25.0 Former 18.8 47.5 2.0 31.7 12th Grade Current Would Like Out 13.2 40.0 42.1 10.0 7.9 36.8 10.0 40.0
Further analysis was done on the relationship between friendship and involvement in a gang by examining the number of gang friends of gang and nongang members. Exhibit 8 illustrates that gang members were significantly more likely to have friends that were gang members when compared to nongang members. For example, gang members were found to be about 15 to 25 times more likely to have four of their best friends be gang members when compared to nongang members. Although, it should be noted that a surprising number of gang members had no good friends that were gang members. Approximately 18 percent of 8th grade gang members, 30 percent of 10th grade gang members, and 34 percent of 12th grade gang members had no friends that were gang members. Exhibit 8: Number of Friends that are Gang Members by Gang Participation
Number of Friends that are Gang Members 0 1 2 3 4 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Nongang 87.6 6.3 3.0 1.2 1.9 Gang 17.9 20.3 16.7 8.8 36.3 Nongang 91.4 4.5 1.9 .8 1.4 Gang 30.3 14.6 12.6 7.8 34.7 Nongang 93.7 2.9 1.3 .8 1.3 Gang 34.2 16.1 9.0 9.0 31.6
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Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Membership Given the many attitudinal and behavioral differences between gang and nongang members, it might be expected that there would be a number of community, family, school, and individual-peer differences that affect membership in a gang. Below the four domains and their influence on gang participation was examined. Exhibit 9 shows the risk and protective factors by gang and nongang membership and grade. The findings with regard to factors within the community domain indicated that gang members were more likely to have had low attachment to their neighborhood, lived in highly disorganized communities, and lived a highly mobile and transitory life. They also lived in neighborhoods where drugs and guns were readily available and where neighbors had favorable attitudes toward drug use. Additionally, gang members lived in communities were there were fewer opportunities for positive, pro-social involvement (i.e., sports, scouts, Boys and Girls Club), and, at least for 8th graders, lived in neighborhoods were there were fewer adults who rewarded them for good behavior. With regard to the family domain, gang members were found to be members of families that were poorly managed, had high levels of conflict, and a history of antisocial behavior. They were also substantially more likely to have had parents who had favorable attitudes toward drug use and other forms of anti-social behavior and felt little attachment to their parents. Furthermore, gang members, when compared to their nongang peers, had fewer opportunities for positive family involvement and were not as likely to be rewarded for good behavior by their parents. Similarly, with regard to school, gang members were more likely to experience academic failure, had little commitment toward school, had fewer positive school-related opportunities, and were less likely to be rewarded by teachers for good behavior. Last, gang and nongang members were found to have very different individual and peer experiences. With regard to individual behavior, gang members were more likely to be sensation seekers, rebellious, and had earlier experiences with drugs and anti-social behavior. They were also more likely to have had favorable attitudes toward drug use and anti-social behavior and perceived that there were fewer risks associated with drug use than nongang members. When compared to nongang members, gang members were also more likely to have had poor social skills and had a weak moral order. Likewise, gang members were more likely to have had peers that were involved with drugs, gangs, and anti-social behavior and had peers that rewarded them for their anti-social behavior.
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Exhibit 9: Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Membership
Community Domain Low Neighborhood Attachment High Community Disorganization Transitions & Mobility Laws & Norms Favor Drug Use Perceived Availability of Drugs Perceived Availability of Handguns Opportunity for Involvement Rewards for Involvement Family Domain Poor Family Management High Family Conflict Family History of Anti-Social Behavior Parent Attitudes Favorable to Anti-Social Behavior Parent Attitudes Favor Drug Use Family Attachment Family Opportunities for Involvement Family Rewards for Involvement School Domain Academic Failure Low Commitment to School School Opportunity for Involvement School Rewards for Pro-Social Involvement Peer-individual Domain Rebelliousness Early Initiation of Anti-Social Behavior Early Initiation of Drug Use Attitudes Favorable to Anti-Social Behavior Attitudes Favorable to Drug Use Perceived Risk of Drug Use Individual Anti-Social Peers Individual Peer's Drug Use Sensation Seeking Rewards for Anti-Social behavior Individual Social Skills Individual Belief in Moral Order Gang Involvement 8th Grade Nongang Gang 38.3 40.1 42.6 33.3 35.6 35.2 44.1 35.0 41.1 45.5 39.6 41.6 24.6 53.9 59.7 62.4 50.6 38.2 58.2 51.8 47.8 73.0 63.0 57.3 73.2 67.4 28.4 26.0 71.5 60.0 75.9 56.4 41.1 33.9 45.7 50.0 77.2 57.9 43.8 38.4 10th Grade Nongang Gang 44.9 46.4 46.2 38.4 49.9 27.2 40.9 40.6 41.9 35.6 42.0 43.6 41.4 47.5 55.8 54.6 51.1 43.4 55.4 59.2 52.3 74.8 70.6 59.3 73.4 55.9 28.7 38.5 64.6 52.5 72.8 67.1 58.4 30.6 44.1 40.5 75.5 57.8 37.9 46.9
12th Grade Nongang Gang 46.6 42.0 45.2 31.8 56.0 32.7 43.7 40.0 44.2 31.4 35.6 41.9 41.6 60.2 56.5 56.7 46.4 42.2 62.6 49.5 59.9 67.8 75.2 44.8 75.2 58.8 28.9 39.0 65.0 44.9 74.1 62.9 62.2 45.6 46.3 38.5 66.7 47.8 47.8 40.8
36.4 29.6 36.8 42.3 33.2 45.3 48.2 38.7 37.7 34.1 62.6 54.5 14.3
68.6 75.6 80.4 73.2 69.7 71.8 85.2 81.6 73.7 66.5 21.9 24.8 100.0
42.6 33.3 39.5 53.0 44.4 43.2 49.8 42.9 43.0 30.3 53.2 60.5 11.1
71.0 81.2 78.8 79.7 71.0 70.8 85.5 74.7 69.6 46.9 20.5 34.7 100.0
39.4 33.0 39.9 51.0 42.0 44.7 50.0 38.8 45.0 36.7 65.5 46.4 8.8
65.6 78.9 75.2 68.4 68.2 60.9 81.3 70.1 65.8 56.5 34.2 26.8 100.0
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GANGS, CRIME, AND DRUGS Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales Exhibit 10 shows the incidence of self-reported drug use and sales by gender. The data clearly shows that gang members, regardless of gender were more likely to have used alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and any drug in their life time compared to nongang members. The pattern was repeated and was even more pronounced when 30-day drug use and sales between gang and nongang members were compared. In particular, both male and female gang members are about two to thirteen times more likely to use a specific drug than their same-sexed, nongang peer. Likewise, gang members were significantly more likely to be involved in drug sales. About 30 percent of female gang members had sold drugs in the past 12 months and almost 40 percent of male gang members had sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to four percent of nongang females and 10 percent of nongang males. Of special interest is the finding that female gang members were significantly more likely to engage in drug use and sales than male nongang members. For example, the analyses showed that female gang members were about four times more likely to have ever used cocaine and used it in the past 30 days, three times more likely to have sold drugs in the past 12 months, two times more likely to have ever used marijuana and any drug, and used them in the past 30 days, and 30 to 60 percent more likely to have ever used alcohol and used it in the last 30 days than male nongang members. Exhibit 10: Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales By Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership Nongang Gang Ratio of Female Female Male Female Male Gang to Male Nongang Life-time Usage Alcohol 71.5 68.8 94.1 91.0 1.4:1 Marijuana 36.2 40.1 75.8 79.8 1.9:1 Cocaine 7.0 7.2 26.8 31.1 3.7:1 Any 40.3 43.4 82.8 83.2 1.9:1 30-Day Usage Alcohol 46.3 44.6 74.8 71.9 1.7:1 Marijuana 16.9 20.5 48.1 49.9 2.3:1 Cocaine 2.5 2.9 13.6 15.6 4.7:1 Any 20.9 24.2 59.5 57.3 2.5:1 12-Month Sold Drugs 4.3 9.7 28.8 38.1 3.0:1
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Exhibit 11 presents the results comparing the incidence of self-reported drug use and sales by ethnicity while controlling for gang membership. Within each ethnic group, gang members were much more likely to have reported ever using a drug and having used drugs within the past 30 days when compared to nongang members. The smallest ratio of drug use was between Whites for life-time cocaine use, and the largest ratio was between Hispanics for cocaine use within the last 30 days. The data clearly showed that almost all gang members of each ethnic group had used alcohol within their life-time and the majority had used alcohol within the past 30 days. Native American and African American gang members were the most likely to have reported marijuana use and Native American and Hispanic gang members were the most likely to have reported cocaine use when compared to the other ethnic groups. Asian gang members reported the least amount of drug use. Similarly, gang membership was found to be a strong predictor of drug sales, with gang members, regardless of ethnicity, being about three to six times more like to sell drugs than nongang members. Native American gang members were the most likely to report drug sales, followed by Whites, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asians.
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Exhibit 11: Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales By Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership
White Nongang Life-time Usage African American 62.8 35.5 4.1 38.1 38.7 21.8 2.1 25.3 7.7 Native American 63.1 53.7 8.7 56.9 35.0 26.0 3.5 29.1 6.8 Hispanic Asian
Other
30-Day Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
70.4 37.7 7.1 41.2 47.1 19.2 2.6 22.9 7.3
73.2 33.8 6.7 38.3 47.4 14.7 2.6 19.0 5.9
63.5 27.2 3.3 31.4 37.5 15.0 1.3 17.2 3.7
75.3 43.5 8.9 47.0 45.6 22.1 4.1 26.6 8.9
12-Month Sold Drugs Gang Life-time Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
91.6 74.5 22.6 80.5 77.8 46.1 7.9 55.0 33.1
93.5 83.9 17.2 83.9 60.7 63.0 11.5 63.0 25.8
90.8 89.1 29.0 91.5 63.6 56.2 13.2 63.0 39.5
93.1 73.7 33.1 80.4 75.3 45.3 17.3 56.3 33.0
92.3 69.2 15.4 69.2 83.3 25.0 9.1 45.5 23.1
87.0 78.3 26.1 82.6 65.2 60.9 21.7 65.2 34.8
30-Day Usage
12-Month Sold Drugs
Life-time Usage
Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Ethnicity
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any 1.3:1 1.2:1 1.1:1 1.3:1 1.7:1 2.4:1 3.0:1 2.4:1 4.5:1 1.5:1 2.4:1 4.2:1 2.2:1 1.6:1 2.9:1 5.5:1 2.5:1 3.4:1 1.4:1 1.7:1 3.3:1 1.6:1 1.8:1 2.2:1 3.8:1 2.2:1 5.8:1 1.3:1 2.2:1 4.9:1 2.1:1 1.6:1 3.1:1 6.7:1 3.0:1 5.6:1 1.5:1 2.5:1 4.7:1 2.2:1 2.2:1 1.7:1 7.0:1 2.6:1 6.2:1 1.2:1 1.8:1 2.9:1 1.8:1 1.4:1 2.8:1 5.3:1 2. 5:1 3.9:1
30-Day Usage
12-Month Sold Drugs
Exhibit 12 reports the incidence of self-reported drug use and sales by grade for nongang and gang members. For life-time and 30-day usage, drug use generally increased substantially from the 8th grade to the 10th grade and from the 10th grade to the 12th grade, regardless of gang affiliation. There were, however, a few exceptions.
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Life-time marijuana use and drug sales were similar for 10th and 12th graders and 30day cocaine use for gang members was fairly similar across grade levels. Likewise, as the grade level increased, so did the ratio of self-reported drug use and sales. For example, 8th grade gang members were three times more likely to have ever used marijuana and eight times more likely to have ever used cocaine than nongang members. But by the 12th grade the ratio of gang to nongang life-time marijuana and cocaine use had been reduced to 1.7 to 1 and 3.5 to 1, respectively. Exhibit 12: Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales By Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership
Nongang Life-time Usage 8th Grade 53.9 22.3 3.0 28.8 30.8 11.3 1.5 16.3 3.8 10th Grade 73.0 39.9 7.1 43.1 46.3 20.4 2.7 24.1 8.0 12th Grade 80.7 49.2 10.5 51.2 56.3 22.1 3.5 25.2 7.9
30-Day Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
Sold Drugs in Past 12 Months Gang Life-time Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Sold Drugs in Past 12 Months
30-Day Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
87.9 70.7 24.9 78.7 69.6 46.9 15.2 59.0 29.9
93.6 81.6 28.2 85.2 73.4 48.7 14.4 56.7 34.6
96.1 81.2 36.8 84.1 75.7 51.0 13.3 57.6 40.4
Life-time Usage Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any 30-Day Usage Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Sold Drugs in Past 12 Months
Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Grade
1.6:1 3.2:1 8.3:1 2.7:1 2.3:1 4.2:1 10.1:1 3.6:1 7.9:1 1.3:1 2.0:1 4.0:1 2.0:1 1.6:1 2.4:1 5.3:1 2.4:1 4.3:1 1.2:1 1.7:1 3.5:1 1.6:1 1.3:1 2.3:1 3.8:1 2.3:1 5.1:1
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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The prevalence of 30-day drug use and sales by gender, controlling for gang membership, was also examined. Exhibit 13 illustrates that male and female gang members self-reported significantly more alcohol and drug use than their nongang peers. Gang members were about three times more likely to report that they were chronic users (i.e., six or more times a month) of alcohol and marijuana and about five to eight times more likely to report that they were chronic users of cocaine than nongang members. Additionally, approximately 11 percent of female gang members and 21 percent of male gang members reported that they had frequently sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to 1.3 and 4.4 percent of nongang females and males, respectively. The exhibit also shows that female gang members were substantially more likely to be chronic alcohol and drug users when compared to nongang males. Specifically, female gang members were more than twice as likely to be chronic users of alcohol and marijuana and to regularly sell drugs when compared to male nongang members. Additionally, female gang members were four times as likely to be chronic users of cocaine when compared to male nongang members. Exhibit 13: 30-day Prevalence of Drug Use and Sales by Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership
Alcohol 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (chronic) Marijuana 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (chronic) Cocaine 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (chronic) Sell Drugs (12 Months) 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (frequent) Nongang Female Male 53.7 25.6 10.8 9.9 83.1 8.3 3.3 5.3 97.5 1.6 .3 .6 95.7 2.2 .8 1.3 55.4 21.6 10.5 12.5 79.5 7.4 2.6 10.5 97.1 1.5 .8 .6 90.3 3.6 1.6 4.4 Gang Female Male 25.2 28.2 18.8 27.8 51.9 17.3 8.6 22.2 86.4 9.5 1.5 2.7 71.2 12.2 5.5 11.1 28.1 22.9 17.8 31.2 50.1 12.7 7.3 29.9 84.4 7.6 3.1 4.9 61.9 10.4 6.6 21.1
Ratio of Female Gang to Male Nongang
2.2:1
2.1:1
4.5:1
2.5:1
When just focusing on gang members the exhibit shows that many regularly used alcohol and drugs. Exhibit 14 reports that 24-50 percent of gang members used alcohol six or more times a month. Asian gang members were the most likely to report being chronic alcohol users and Native Americans were the least likely to report being a chronic alcohol user. Approximately one-fourth of gang members reported regular use of marijuana, with the exception of Asian gang members. The amount of self-reported
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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cocaine use varied substantially between ethnic groups. African Americans were the most likely to regularly use cocaine, followed by Hispanics, Native Americans, Whites, and Asians. Exhibit 14 shows the 30-day prevalence rate of self-reported drug use and sales by ethnicity. First, there were substantial differences between gang and nongang members in terms of their prevalence of alcohol use. With the exception of Asians, gang members, regardless of ethnicity, were two to three times more likely to chronically use alcohol than their nongang peers. Asian gang members, however, were seven times more likely to use alcohol six or more times a month when compared to Asian nongang members. Similarly, gang members were three to six times more likely to regularly use marijuana when compared to nongang members. The most substantial and varied difference between nongang and gang members with regard to drug use was related to chronic cocaine use. White gang members were 2.6 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than White nongang members, African American gang members were 19.3 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than African American nongang members, Native American gang members were 5.5 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than Native American nongang members, and Hispanic gang members were 6.7 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than Hispanic nongang members. Depending on the ethnic group, gang members were about four to eight times more likely to self-report regularly selling drugs than nongang members. African American gang members were the most likely to report regularly selling drugs (22.6 percent), followed by Hispanics, Whites, and Native Americans (15.9 percent, 15.6 percent, and 15.5 percent, respectively).
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Exhibit 14: 30-day Prevalence of Drug Use and Sales by Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership
White African American Native American Hispanic Asian
Other
Alcohol Nongang 0 times 53.0 61.3 65.0 52.6 62.5 54.4 1-2 times 23.5 22.7 19.0 25.9 24.2 24.7 3-5 times 10.9 5.5 8.0 11.6 7.1 12.5 6 + times (chronic) 12.5 10.5 8.0 10.0 6.3 8.4 Gang 0 times 22.2 39.3 36.4 24.7 16.7 34.8 1-2 times 29.4 14.3 26.4 23.8 16.7 30.4 3-5 times 20.3 17.9 13.2 20.0 16.7 4.3 6 + times (chronic) 28.1 28.6 24.0 31.6 50.0 30.4 Marijuana Nongang 0 times 80.8 78.2 74.0 85.3 85.0 77.9 1-2 times 7.4 9.4 11.4 6.9 8.3 10.9 3-5 times 2.9 2.6 5.4 2.4 2.9 3.1 6 + times (chronic) 8.8 9.8 9.2 5.4 3.8 8.1 Gang 0 times 53.9 37.0 43.8 54.7 75.0 39.1 1-2 times 11.8 18.5 16.5 15.4 8.3 8.7 3-5 times 6.6 14.8 13.2 6.3 8.3 4.3 6 + times (chronic) 27.6 29.6 26.4 23.6 8.3 47.8 Cocaine Nongang 0 times 97.4 97.9 96.5 97.4 98.7 95.9 1-2 times 1.5 1.3 2.7 1.3 .4 2.2 3-5 times .5 .4 .2 .6 .0 .9 6 + times (chronic) .5 .4 .6 .7 .8 .9 Gang 0 times 92.1 88.5 86.8 82.7 90.9 78.3 1-2 times 5.3 .0 6.6 11.0 9.1 8.7 3-5 times 1.3 3.8 3.3 1.6 .0 8.7 6 + times (chronic) 1.3 7.7 3.3 4.7 .0 4.3 Drug Sales (12 Months) Nongang 0 times 92.7 92.3 93.2 94.1 96.3 91.1 1-2 times 3.1 3.3 3.1 2.5 .4 3.1 3-5 times 1.1 1.2 1.9 .9 1.2 2.5 6 + times (frequent) 3.1 3.3 1.9 2.4 2.1 3.4 Gang 0 times 66.9 74.2 60.5 67.0 76.9 65.2 1-2 times 11.0 3.2 14.7 11.2 15.4 4.3 3-5 times 6.5 .0 9.3 5.9 .0 .0 6 + times (frequent) 15.6 22.6 15.5 15.9 7.7 30.4 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Ethnicity--For Chronic Drug Use and Frequent Drug Sales Only Alcohol 2.2:1 2.7:1 3.0:1 3.2:1 7.9:1 3.6:1 Marijuana 3.1:1 3.0:1 2.9:1 4.4:1 2.2:1 5.9:1 Cocaine 2.6:1 19.3:1 5.5:1 6.7:1 .0:1 4.8:1 Drug Sales 5.0:1 6.8:1 8.2:1 6.6:1 3.7:1 8.9:1
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
25
When the prevalence of drug use and sales by grade was examined, while controlling for gang membership, it was found that gang members were more likely to regularly use and sell drugs than their nongang member peers (See Exhibit 15). This finding was particularly pronounced among 8th graders. Specifically, 8th grade gang members were more than five times more likely to be chronic users of alcohol, six times more likely to be chronic users of marijuana, 37 times more likely to be chronic users of cocaine, and 10 times more likely to sell drugs than nongang members in the 8th grade. While this trend lessened among 12th graders, there were nevertheless still sharp differences between gang and nongang members in terms of those who chronically used and sold drugs. About 25-30 percent of gang members, regardless of grade, used alcohol and marijuana six or more times a month. Likewise, about four percent of gang members used cocaine more than six times a month and 12 to 23 percent of gang members sold drugs six or more times a year, depending on their grade--with 12th grade gang members being almost twice as likely to sell drugs as 8th grade gang members.
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Exhibit 15: 30-day Prevalence of Drug Use and Sales by Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership
8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Alcohol Nongang 0 times 69.2 53.7 43.7 1-2 times 19.4 23.4 27.7 3-5 times 6.8 10.8 13.5 6 + times (chronic) 4.6 12.1 15.1 Gang 0 times 30.4 26.6 24.3 1-2 times 28.7 21.2 25.7 3-5 times 15.0 19.1 20.4 6 + times (chronic) 25.9 33.1 29.6 Marijuana Nongang 0 times 88.7 79.6 77.9 1-2 times 5.5 8.3 9.0 3-5 times 1.9 3.5 3.2 6 + times (chronic) 3.8 8.5 10.0 Gang 0 times 53.1 51.3 49.0 1-2 times 15.1 14.4 13.2 3-5 times 8.2 6.5 9.3 6 + times (chronic) 23.7 27.8 28.5 Cocaine Nongang 0 times 98.5 97.3 96.5 1-2 times 1.1 1.6 1.9 3-5 times .3 .5 .7 6 + times (chronic) .1 .7 .9 Gang 0 times 84.8 85.6 86.7 1-2 times 10.2 7.6 6.0 3-5 times 1.2 2.9 3.3 6 + times (chronic) 3.7 4.0 4.0 Drug Sales (12 Months) Nongang 0 times 96.2 92.0 92.1 1-2 times 2.1 3.4 2.8 3-5 times .5 1.3 1.6 6 + times (regular) 1.2 3.3 3.4 Gang 0 times 70.1 65.4 59.6 1-2 times 11.5 10.6 10.9 3-5 times 6.1 5.8 7.1 6 + times (regular) 12.3 18.2 22.4 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Grade--For Chronic Drug Use and Frequent Drug Sales Only Alcohol 5.6 2.7 2.0 Marijuana 6.2 3.3 2.9 Cocaine 37.0 5.7 4.4 Drug Sales 10.3 5.5 6.6
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Exhibit 16 shows the incidence of self-reported delinquency by gender, controlling for gang membership. About 40 percent of male gang members and 30 percent of female gang members had been arrested in the past 12 months compared to 10 percent of nongang males and five percent of nongang females. Similarly, 22 percent of male and 10 percent of female gang members had stolen a vehicle in the past 12 months compared to 2-3 percent of nongang male and females. Of special interest is the finding that almost half of all the male gang members and about onethird of the female gang members had self-reported attacking someone with the intention of hurting them. This compares to only 7-12 percent for nongang males and females. Many of the gang members were also found to have self-reported carrying a gun in the past 12 months. Approximately 37 percent of male gang members and 16 percent of female gang members self-reported carrying a gun compared to 1.6 percent of nongang females and eight percent of nongang males. An interesting finding of this research is related to the ratio of girls in gangs selfreported offending relative to nongang boys' delinquency rates. A theme commonly observed is that the girls in gangs are significantly more involved in delinquency than nongang boys. Such a finding highlights the fact that involvement in a gang facilitates delinquent activity beyond that of gender, a characteristic (i.e., being male) that is very strongly associated with delinquency of drug use. Female gang members were twice as likely than male nongang to carry a gun and steal a vehicle, and three times more likely to have been arrested and attacked someone compared to a nongang male within the past 12 months. Exhibit 16: Incidence of Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior in Past 12 Months by Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership Nongang Gang Ratio of Female Gang Female Male Female Male to Male Nongang Been arrested 5.1 10.2 30.3 42.2 3.0:1 Vehicle theft 1.8 3.4 11.4 22.3 2.0:1 Attacked 6.9 11.8 37.4 47.3 3.2:1 someone Carried gun 1.6 8.2 16.1 36.9 2.0:1 Exhibit 17 reports that regardless of ethnicity gang members were more likely to have engaged in delinquency in the past 12 months when compared to nongang members. For most offenses, gang members were three to six times more likely to have self-reported delinquency than their nongang peers. The data show that there were also differences in incidence rates between ethnic groups. For example, Native American and Asian gang members were the most likely to have been arrested within the past 12 months, followed by Hispanics, Whites, and African Americans. In terms of self-reported vehicle theft, Native Americans were the most likely to have reported committing this offense within the past year (23.1 percent), followed by Hispanics (18.4) and Whites (15.3). African Americans and Asians rarely self-reported vehicle theft (6.7, 0.0, respectively). Conversely, about 50 percent of African Americans,
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Asians, and Native Americans self-reported attacking someone in the past 12 months, whereas about 40 percent of Whites and Hispanics reported attacking someone in the past 12 months. Approximately 30 percent of African American, Native American, and Hispanic respondents self-reported carrying a gun in the past 12 months compared to 25 percent of Whites and 7.7 percent of Asians. Exhibit 17: Incidence of Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior in Past 12 months by Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership White African Native Hispanic Asian American American Nongang Been arrested 7.2 8.5 11.4 7.1 3.7 Vehicle theft 2.3 4.5 3.2 2.8 2.5 Attacked 8.8 12.3 9.9 9.6 4.6 someone Carried gun 4.7 5.7 6.2 4.5 2.5 Gang Been arrested 34.2 25.8 43.8 36.6 46.2 Vehicle theft 15.3 6.7 23.1 18.4 0.0 Attacked 40.1 51.7 49.6 39.7 46.2 someone Carried gun 24.8 36.7 29.7 28.2 7.7 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Ethnicity Been arrested 4.8:1 3.0:1 3.8:1 5.2:1 12.5:1 Vehicle theft 6.7:1 1.5:1 8.3:1 6.6:1 .0:1 Attacked 4.6:1 4.2:1 5.0:1 4.1:1 10.0:1 someone Carried gun 5.3:1 6.4:1 4.8:1 6.3:1 3.1:1
Other 8.3 2.8 12.5 5.8 40.9 21.7 59.1 30.4 4.9:1 7.8:1 4.7:1 5.2:1
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The proportion of respondents indicating that they had engaged in delinquent behavior within the past 12 months, in general, did not vary substantially by grade--for either gang or nongang members (See Exhibit 18). However, it should be noted that 10th graders were more likely to self-report delinquency than those in the 8th and 12th grades, but for most of the offenses the differences were slight. Once again, gang members were found to be four to six times more likely to report being arrested, steal a vehicle, attack someone, and carry a gun than nongang members. Exhibit 18: Incidence of Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior in Past 12 months by Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Nongang Been arrested 6.9 7.9 7.8 Vehicle theft 2.4 3.2 1.9 Attacked someone 9.2 10.3 8.0 Carried gun 5.2 4.5 4.7 Gang Been arrested 36.2 39.9 34.0 Vehicle theft 16.5 21.4 13.5 Attacked someone 41.6 45.3 41.2 Carried gun 26.8 29.7 28.6 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Grade Been arrested 5.2:1 5.1:1 4.4:1 Vehicle theft 6.9:1 6.7:1 7.1:1 Attacked someone 4.5:1 4.4:1 5.2:1 Carried gun 5.2:1 6.6:1 6.1:1 As seen in Exhibit 19, gang members were significantly more likely to be chronic offenders when compared to nongang members. In particular, it was found that male gang members, for many of the offense categories, were more than twice as likely to report being a chronic offender when compared to female gang members, who in turn were two to ten times more likely to self-report being a chronic offender when compared to male nongang members. Additionally, the analyses showed that roughly nine percent of male gang members reported being arrested six or more times in the past year, 6.5 percent male gang members reported that they had stolen a vehicle six or more times in the past year, and more than 16 percent of male gang members reported that they had attacked someone with the idea of hurting them six or more times in the past year.
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Exhibit 19: Prevalence of Self-Reported Delinquency by Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership Nongang Gang Ratio of Female Female Male Female Male Gang to Male Nongang Arrested 0 times 94.9 89.8 69.7 57.8 1-2 times 4.4 8.4 18.1 24.9 3-5 times .4 1.3 7.0 8.8 6 + times (chronic) .3 .5 5.2 8.5 10.4:1 Vehicle Theft 0 times 98.2 96.6 88.6 77.7 1-2 times 1.3 2.2 7.4 12.3 3-5 times .3 .5 2.2 3.4 6 + times (chronic) .2 .7 1.8 6.5 2.6:1 Attacked someone 0 times 93.1 88.2 62.6 52.7 1-2 times 5.3 7.9 18.5 21.7 3-5 times .8 1.9 7.5 9.4 6 + times (chronic) .8 2.0 11.3 16.3 5.7:1 Carried gun 0 times 98.4 91.8 83.9 71.4 1-2 times .9 3.3 7.3 11.4 3-5 times .3 1.3 1.5 3.5 6 + times (chronic) .4 3.6 7.3 13.7 2.0:1 With the exception of Asians, gang members were roughly five to 20 times more likely to self-report being chronic delinquents when compared to nongang members (See Exhibit 20). Examining the prevalence rate of self-reported delinquency by ethnicity shows that there were very few chronic delinquents among nongang members, regardless of the ethnic group examined. On the other hand, with the exception of Asians, a sizable proportion of gang members were found to be chronic delinquents. The data showed that Native American gang members were the most likely to report that they had been arrested and engaged in vehicle theft six or more times in the past year, and African American gang members were the most likely to report carrying a weapon and chronically attacking someone with the intention of hurting them. In most of the offense categories, fewer Hispanics and Whites reported being chronic offenders compared to Native Americans and African Americans.
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Exhibit 20: Prevalence of Self-Reported Delinquency by Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership
White African American Native American Hispanic Asian
Other
Arrest Nongang 0 times 92.8 91.5 88.6 92.9 96.3 91.7 1-2 times 6.2 7.3 9.2 5.9 2.9 6.5 3-5 times .7 .8 1.5 .9 .8 1.2 6 + times (chronic) .4 .4 .7 .3 .0 .6 Gang 0 times 65.8 74.2 56.2 63.4 53.8 59.1 1-2 times 21.3 12.9 25.4 22.3 30.8 18.2 3-5 times 7.1 6.5 9.2 7.4 15.4 9.1 6 + times (chronic) 5.8 6.5 9.2 6.8 0.0 13.6 Vehicle Theft Nongang 0 times 97.7 95.5 96.8 97.2 97.5 97.2 1-2 times 1.7 2.4 1.9 1.6 2.1 1.8 3-5 times .3 1.2 .6 .6 .4 .9 6 + times (chronic) .4 .8 .7 .5 .0 .0 Gang 0 times 84.7 93.3 76.9 81.6 100.0 78.3 1-2 times 9.6 .0 13.1 11.0 0.0 17.4 3-5 times 1.9 3.3 3.8 3.6 0.0 0.0 6 + times (chronic) 3.8 3.3 6.2 3.9 0.0 4.3 Attacked someone Nongang 0 times 91.2 87.7 90.1 90.4 95.4 87.5 1-2 times 6.3 9.0 7.5 6.8 2.9 7.5 3-5 times 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4 .8 2.5 6 + times (chronic) 1.3 2.0 1.1 1.4 .8 2.5 Gang 0 times 59.9 48.3 50.4 60.3 53.8 40.9 1-2 times 21.0 24.1 24.4 17.9 23.1 18.2 3-5 times 7.0 6.9 8.7 8.8 15.4 13.6 6 + times (chronic) 12.1 20.7 16.5 13.0 7.7 27.3 Carried gun Nongang 0 times 95.3 94.3 93.8 95.5 97.5 94.2 1-2 times 1.8 2.8 2.2 2.3 .8 3.1 3-5 times .9 .4 1.3 .5 .8 .6 6 + times (chronic) 2.0 2.4 2.6 1.6 .8 2.1 Gang 0 times 75.2 63.3 70.3 71.8 92.3 69.6 1-2 times 10.8 10.0 14.1 10.9 7.7 0.0 3-5 times 2.5 6.7 3.9 2.9 0.0 8.7 6 + times (chronic) 11.5 20.0 11.7 14.4 0.0 21.7 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Grade, for chronic offenders only Arrest 14.5:1 16.3:1 13.1:1 22.7:1 .0:1 22.6:1 Vehicle Theft 9.5:1 4.1:1 8.9:1 7.8:1 .0:1 43.0:1 Attacked someone 9.3:1 10.4:1 15.0:1 9.3:1 9.6:1 10.9:1 Carried gun 5.8:1 8.3:1 4.5:1 9.0:1 .0:1 10.3:1
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Exhibit 21 once again shows that nongang members, regardless of grade, were rarely involved in chronic delinquency. Conversely, gang members, regardless of grade, frequently self-reported delinquency. Tenth grade gang members were more likely to be repeatedly arrested, engaged in chronic vehicle theft and attacked someone more often than 8th and 12th grade gang members. It might have been that before many of the chronic gang offenders reached the 12th grade they had been expelled, quit school, been imprisoned, or were absent the day of the survey; thus reducing the overall prevalence rate among 12th graders. However, it should be pointed out that 12th grade gang members were the most likely to carry a weapon, followed by 10th grade gang members, and 8th grade gang members.
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Exhibit 21: Prevalence of Self-Reported Delinquency by Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership
8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Arrest Nongang 0 times 93.1 92.1 92.2 1-2 times 5.6 6.4 6.9 3-5 times .8 1.1 .6 6 + times (chronic) .5 .4 .3 Gang 0 times 63.8 60.1 66.0 1-2 times 20.8 22.0 23.7 3-5 times 8.5 7.9 7.1 6 + times (chronic) 6.9 10.0 3.2 Vehicle Theft Nongang 0 times 97.6 96.8 98.1 1-2 times 1.5 2.1 1.3 3-5 times .4 .6 .2 6 + times (chronic) .5 .5 .4 Gang 0 times 88.6 77.7 82.0 1-2 times 7.4 12.3 10.4 3-5 times 2.2 3.4 2.9 6 + times (chronic) 1.8 6.5 4.7 Attacked someone Nongang 0 times 90.8 89.7 92.0 1-2 times 6.7 7.4 5.4 3-5 times 1.0 1.5 1.2 6 + times (chronic) 1.5 1.3 1.3 Gang 0 times 58.4 54.7 58.8 1-2 times 19.5 20.6 20.9 3-5 times 8.6 8.7 7.8 6 + times (chronic) 13.6 16.0 12.4 Carried gun Nongang 0 times 94.8 95.5 95.3 1-2 times 2.7 1.8 1.8 3-5 times .7 .9 .7 6 + times (chronic) 1.8 1.8 2.2 Gang 0 times 73.2 70.3 71.4 1-2 times 13.0 11.8 7.1 3-5 times 4.2 3.4 2.6 6 + times (chronic) 9.6 14.5 18.8 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Grade, for chronic offenders only Arrest 13.8:1 25.0:1 10.7:1 Vehicle Theft 3.6:1 13.0:1 11.8:1 Attacked someone 9.1:1 12.3:1 9.5:1 Carried gun 5.3:1 8.1:1 8.5:1
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THE IMPACT OF GANGS ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR, AND CLIMATE Exhibit 22 shows the number of missed school days due to skipping and the number of times individuals were suspended by gang membership. The exhibit reports that gang members were more likely to skip school and skipped school more often than nongang members. About 20 percent of nongang members and 33 percent of gang members reported skipping school at least once in the past year. Furthermore, gang members were almost five times more likely to report skipping school six or more times a year. Likewise, gang members were much more likely to report being suspended from school and reported being suspended from school more often than nongang members. About 11 percent of nongang members and 41 percent of gang members reported being suspended at least once in the past 12 months. Gang members were also over eight times more likely to report being suspended six or more times in the past 12 months compared to nongang members. Exhibit 22: School Performance by Gang and Nongang Members Nongang Gang Ratio of Gang to Nongang Missed A Day of School Because of Skipping Or Cutting 0 times 79.7 66.7 1-2 times 14.0 17.7 3-5 times 4.9 9.0 6 + times 1.4 6.5 4:6 Been Suspended In Last 12 Months 0 times 88.9 58.7 1-2 times 9.0 27.8 3-5 times 1.3 7.6 6 + times .7 5.9 8:4 The number of times gang and nongang members engaged in delinquent behavior at school was also examined. Exhibit 23 reports that gang members were significantly more likely to frequently bring a weapon or gun to school. For example, gang members were 3.4 times more likely to bring a weapon to school (in the past 30 days) and 10.5 times more likely to bring a gun to school (in the past 12 months) than nongang members. Additionally, gang members were 3.7 times more likely to have been frequently drunk or high at school, 4.9 times more likely to have been frequently threatened or injured at school, and 9.5 times more likely to be in six or more fights at school (within a 12 month period) than nongang members.
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Exhibit 23: Delinquent Behavior in School by Gang and Nongang Members Nongang Gang Ratio of Gang to Nongang Carried a Weapon to School in Past 30 Days 0 times 94.2 75.6 1 time 1.3 6.3 2-3 times 1.1 5.6 4-5 times .4 2.3 6+ times 3.0 10.2 3:4 Taken Handgun to School in Last 12 Months 0 times 99.2 88.7 1-2 times .4 5.5 3-5 times .1 1.5 6 + times .4 4.2 10:5 Drunk or High at School in Last 12 Months 0 times 82.0 46.0 1-2 times 8.0 19.1 3-5 times 3.1 8.9 6 + times 7.0 26.0 3:7 Threatened or Injured with Weapon at School (in last 12 months) 0 times 92.6 76.6 1 time 3.5 7.5 2-3 times 2.3 8.2 4 + times 1.6 7.8 4:9 Been in a Fight At School in Last 12 Months 0 times 87.8 56.9 1 time 7.6 16.4 2-3 times 3.4 14.4 4 + times 1.3 12.3 9:5 Exhibit 24 reports on school performance by the seriousness of the gang problem in the respondents' school. Exhibit 24 on the following page shows that schools with a serious gang problem were more likely to have students miss school for both reasons of illness and skipping. For instance, only 12 percent of respondents who attended a school with a minor gang problem reported missing three or more days of school due to illness, compared to about 21 percent at schools with an average gang problem, and almost 26 percent at schools with a serious gang problem. Likewise, 5.1 percent of respondents who attended a school with a minor gang problem reported missing three or more days of school due to skipping, compared to 7.9 percent at a school with an average gang problem, and 8.4 percent at a school with a serious gang problem.
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Minor Gang Average Gang Problem Problem School Days Missed Because of Illness 0 times 60.0 47.3 1 time 16.4 17.3 2 times 11.5 14.7 3 + times 12.1 20.7 School Days Missed Because of Skipping or Cutting 0 times 79.0 78.4 1 time 10.9 7.9 2 times 5.0 5.9 3 + times 5.1 7.9
Exhibit 24: School Performance by Level of School's Gang Problem
Serious Gang Problem 44.4 16.4 13.6 25.5 80.7 5.9 4.9 8.4
The amount of school related delinquency was examined by the seriousness of the school's gang problem. Exhibit 25 illustrates that respondents who attended schools with a serious gang problem were more likely to report delinquency and victimization than students attending schools with a minor or moderate gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were roughly three times more likely to report frequently getting into fights, repeatedly being threatened/injured with a weapon, and frequently bringing a handgun to school when compared to students attending schools with minor or moderate gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were also significantly more likely to report being drunk or high six or more times at school and were more likely to report bringing a weapon to school within the past 30 days.
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Exhibit 25: Amount of School-Related Delinquency by School Gang Problem
Minor Gang Problem 94.9 1.0 .8 3.3 Average Gang Problem 92.5 1.7 1.5 4.2
Carried Weapon to School in Past 30-Days 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Been Threatened/Injured with a Weapon at School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Number of Times in a Fight at School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Number of Times Drunk or High at School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times Number of Times Taken a Handgun to School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times
Serious Gang Problem 89.0 3.0 3.2 4.8
92.6 3.5 2.3 1.6 89.5 6.2 2.9 1.5 80.3 8.2 3.2 8.3
91.7 3.6 2.8 1.9 85.1 8.7 4.3 1.8 81.1 8.2 3.2 7.5
87.3 6.2 2.6 4.0 75.9 12.5 6.9 4.8 69.2 13.5 5.5 11.9
99.1 .3 .1 .5
98.5 .7 .2 .6
96.0 2.0 .3 1.7
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Exhibits 26 and 27 show student perceptions of safety and fear by the seriousness of the school's gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were almost three times more likely to report not feeling safe at their school compared to respondents attending schools with a minor gang problem. Additionally, 10 percent of students attending a school with a serious gang problem reported missing at least one day of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were five times more likely to miss four or more days of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school compared to respondents attending a school with a minor gang problem. Exhibit 26: School Safety and Fear by Level of School's Gang Problem
I feel safe at my school No Yes Number of days did not go to school because felt that it was unsafe at school or on the way to school (past 30 days) 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Minor Gang Problem 10.2 89.8 Average Gang Problem 17.4 82.6 Serious Gang Problem 27.8 72.2
98.0 1.0 .5 .6
96.0 2.2 .9 .9
91.1 4.2 2.2 2.6
Exhibit 27: Percent of Students that Do Not Feel Safe at School by School Gang Problem
30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Minor Gang Problem Average Gang Problem
Level of School's Gang Problem
Percent
Serious Gang Problem
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SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS The purpose of the present study was to advance the understanding of the scope and nature of the gang problem in Arizona. In particular, this report focused on three major issues: (1) the correlates of gang involvement; (2) the relationship between gangs, crime, and drugs; and (3) the impact of gang participation on school performance, school behavior, and school climate. These issues were examined using data from the Arizona Youth Survey. The survey was randomly administered to 12,203 students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades in 63 schools across the state. The findings showed that the proportion of youth involved in gangs varied by demographic characteristics and family background. Minority males were the most likely to self-admit to gang membership. However, it is important to emphasize that a large proportion of total gang members were female (39.7 percent), and a substantial number of Native Americans self-admitted to gang membership (10.7 percent). Gang members were disproportionately likely to come from homes with a single parent or from a home with a different parental arrangement other than an intact/single parent family. Additionally, the parents of gang members were less educated and were less likely to use English at home than the parents of nongang members. More than half of gang members joined their gangs when they were 13 years old or younger. Most stated that they joined their gangs for reasons of friendship, but many also stated that they joined for reasons of protection/safety or because their parent(s) were gang members. Those individuals who joined their gangs for protection or because their parent(s) were gang members were the most likely to want to leave the gang. The findings also suggested that youth who were exposed to poor neighborhood conditions, anti-social and dysfunctional parents and peers, and who had anti-social attitudes and early experiences with problem behavior were at greater risk for gang membership. Additionally, the findings showed that gang members were less likely to be exposed to protective factors. For example, they were less likely to have opportunities for pro-social neighborhood, family, and school activities and were less likely to be rewarded for good behavior by their neighbors, family, or school than nongang members. This research also indicated that gang members were significantly more likely to have ever engaged in delinquency, drug use, and drug sales and engaged in these activities more often than nongang members. The findings showed that the incidence and prevalence of delinquency, drug use, and sales varied by gender, ethnicity, and grade. Male gang members were the most likely to be involved in delinquency, drug use and sales, followed by female gang members, male nongang members, and female nongang members. An interesting finding of this research is related to the ratio of gang girls selfreported offending relative to nongang boys delinquency rates. Female gang members are significantly more involved in delinquency than nongang males. Such a finding
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highlights the fact that involvement in a gang facilitates delinquent activity beyond that of gender, a characteristic that is very strongly associated with delinquency of drug use. These findings suggest that female gang members are not simply "wanna-be gang members" or the "girlfriends of gang members;" rather, this research suggests that female gang members engage in the same types of delinquency, drug use, and drug sales as their male peers, albeit at a lower frequency. This contrasts with the fact that female gang members only make up about 10 percent of documented gang members in the state of Arizona. Delinquency, drug use and sales also varied by ethnicity. The findings here were similar to many past studies that have found that minority gang members are more actively involved in delinquency and drug use and sales than non-minority gang members. The data suggested that African American gang members were the most likely to be involved in violent crime, drug sales, and were more likely to be chronic users of cocaine. Native American and Hispanic gang members, on the other hand, were more likely to be arrested and involved with property crimes. Asians, followed by whites, reported the least amount of delinquency, drug use, and sales. In all three grade levels examined, gang members were substantially more likely to engage in delinquency and drug use than nongang members. With regard to drug use and sales, as the youth progressed from one grade to the next the probability of self-reporting drug use and sales also increased. However, this trend did not appear for violent and property crime. Tenth graders, in general, were more likely to engage in delinquency than 8th or 12th graders. This finding might have been an artifact of the sampling strategy used for this study. Before many of the chronic gang offenders reached the 12th grade they might have been expelled, quit school, been imprisoned, or simply absent on the day of the survey; thus reducing the prevalence of delinquency among 12th graders. Last, gang membership had a pronounced impact on school performance and behavior. Gang members were more likely to skip school and were more likely to have been suspended than nongang members. Similarly, gang members were more likely to carry a weapon to school, take a handgun to school, be drunk or high at school, in a fight at school, and more likely to have been threatened or injured with a weapon at school than nongang members. Schools with serious gang problems were also more likely to have students miss school, engage in delinquency and drug use, and be threatened or injured with a weapon than students attending schools with minor or moderate gang problems. Similarly, students attending schools with a serious gang problem were substantially more likely to report not feeling safe at their school and were much more likely to frequently miss school because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school. The findings reported here have policy implications for prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. First, the findings showed that there are numerous community, family, and school factors that influence gang membership. Prevention efforts and resources should be targeted toward youth that are exposed to multiple risk factors. Decreasing the number of risk factors in the environment of these youth might go far to prevent future gang membership and criminality. Second, the findings
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showed that there are numerous reasons why youth join gangs. Most youth were found to be pulled into a gang for reasons of friendship and these gang members were the least likely to want to leave their gang. On the other hand, some gang members were pushed into their gang for protection or for family reasons. These individuals were the most likely to want to get out of their gang. As a consequence, a single, broad-based intervention strategy targeted toward all gang youth would not likely have an effect in reducing gang membership. Rather, different intervention strategies are needed to address the specific factors influencing gang membership, if such efforts are going to be successful. Third, the findings here, coupled with past research, suggest that gang members are more criminally active than nongang members. Suppression efforts targeted toward gang members hold the possibility of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the police by focusing resources on those that are the most likely to engage in crime and delinquency.
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Appendix A
Item-Construct Dictionary for the
ARIZONA YOUTH SURVEY
PREPARED BY
Southwest Prevention Center (FY 02)
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DEMOGRAPHICS How old are you? 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 or older (Q001) What grade are you in? 8th 10th 12th (Q002)
Are you: Female Male (Q003) What do you consider yourself to be? (Choose one best answer) (Q004) White, not of Hispanic Origin Black or African American American Indian/Native American, Eskimo, or Aleut Spanish/Hispanic/Latino Mexican American Mexican Cuban Other Spanish Asian or Pacific Islander Chinese Filipino Hawaiian Korean Vietnamese Other Asian or Pacific Islander Other (Please Specify _________) Think of where you live most of the time. Which of the following people live with you? (Choose all that apply) (Q005 a-p) Mother Father Other Adults Foster Mother Foster Father Sister(s) Stepmother Stepfather Stepsister(s) Grandmother Grandfather Brother(s) Aunt Uncle Stepbrother (s) Other children How many brothers and sisters, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have that are older than you? (Q006) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more Chicano Puerto Rican Central American South American Japanese Asian Indian Samoan Guamanian Cambodian
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How many brothers and sisters, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have that are younger than you? (Q007) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more What is the language you use most often at home? English Spanish Another Language (Q008) What is the highest level of schooling your father completed? (Q009) Completed grade school or less Some high school Completed high school Some school Completed college Graduate or professional school after college Do not know Does not apply What is the highest level of schooling your mother completed? (Q010) Completed grade school or less Some high school Completed high school Some school Completed college Graduate or professional school after college Do not know Does not apply
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COMMUNITY: Low Neighborhood Attachment I like my neighborhood. (Q083) If I had to move, I would miss the neighborhood I now live in. (Q081) I would like to get out of my neighborhood. (Q093) NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
COMMUNITY: Community Disorganization How much do each of the following statements describe your neighborhood? (Q085) Crime and/or drug selling (Q085a) Fights (Q085b) Lots of empty or abandoned buildings (Q085c) Lots of graffiti (Q085d) I feel safe in my neighborhood. (Q091) NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
COMMUNITY: Transitions and Mobility Have you changed homes in past year (the last 12 months) (Q094) NO YES 7 or more times
How many times have you changed homes since kindergarten? (Q087) Never 1-2 times 3-4 times 5-6 times Have you changed schools in the past year (the last 12 months)? (Q090) NO YES How many times have you changed schools since kindergarten? (Q092) Never 1-2 times 3-4 times 5-6 times People move in and out of my neighborhood a lot. (Q086) NO! no yes YES!
7 or more times
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COMMUNITY: Laws and Norms Favorable to Drug Use How wrong would most adults in your neighborhood think it is for kids your age: (Q079) To use marijuana? (Q079a) To drink alcohol? (Q079b) To smoke cigarettes? (Q079c) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no Not Wrong at all Not Wrong at all Not Wrong at all yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES!
If a kid drank some beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q074) If a kid smokes marijuana in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q072) If a kid carried a handgun in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q076) If a kid smoked cigarettes in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q078)
COMMUNITY: Perceived Availability of Drugs If you wanted to get some beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q070) If you wanted to get some cigarettes, how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q071) If you wanted to get some marijuana, how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q077) If you wanted to get drugs like cocaine, LSD, or amphetamines, how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q073) If you wanted to get a handgun, how easy would it be for you to get one? (Q075) Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy
Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy
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COMMUNITY: Opportunities for Positive Involvement There are lots of adults in my neighborhood I could talk to about something important. (Q084) Which of the following activities for people your age are available in your community? (Q089) Sports teams (Q089a) Scouting (Q089b) Boys and girls clubs (Q089c) 4-H clubs (Q089d) Service clubs (Q089e) No No No No No Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate NO! no yes YES!
COMMUNITY: Rewards for Conventional Involvement My neighbors notice when I am doing a good job and let me know about it. (Q082) There are people in my neighborhood who encourage me to do my best. (Q095) There are people in my neighborhood who are proud of me when I do something well. (Q088) NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
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FAMILY: Poor Family Management My parents ask if I have gotten my homework done. (Q120) My parents want me to call if I am going to be late getting home. (Q104) Would your parents know if you did not come home on time? (Q122) When I am not at home, one of my parents knows where I am and who I am with. (Q102) The rules in my family are clear. (Q099) My family has clear rules about alcohol and drug use. (Q106) If you drank some beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? (Q105) If you skipped school without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? (Q108) NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
If you carried a handgun without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? (Q107) NO!
FAMILY: Conflict People in my family often insult or yell at each other. (Q101) People in my family have serious arguments. (Q121) We argue about the same things in my family over and over. (Q103) NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
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FAMILY: History of Antisocial Behavior Has anyone in your family ever had a severe alcohol or drug problem? (Q100) Have any of your brothers or sisters ever: (Q098) Drunk beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin)? (Q098a) Smoked marijuana? (Q098b) Smoked cigarettes? (Q098c) Taken a handgun to school? (Q098d) Been suspended or expelled from school? (Q098e) About how many adults have you known personally who in the past year have: (Q080) Used marijuana, crack, cocaine, or other drugs? (Q080a) Sold or dealt drugs? (Q080b) Done other things that could get them in trouble with the police, like stealing, selling stolen goods, mugging or assaulting others, etc? (Q080c) Gotten drunk or high? (Q080d) None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters No Yes
FAMILY: Parental Attitudes Favorable Toward Drug Use How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to: (Q097) Drink beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin regularly (at least once or twice a month)? (Q097a) Smoke cigarettes? (Q097b) Smoke marijuana? (Q097c) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
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FAMILY: Parental Attitudes Favorable to Antisocial Behavior Steal anything worth more than $5.00? (Q097d) Draw graffiti, write things, or draw pictures on building or other property (Q097e) Pick a fight with someone? (Q097f) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
FAMILY: Attachment Do you feel very close to your mother? (Q110) Do you share your thoughts and feelings with your mother? (Q111) Do you feel very close to your father? (Q118) Do you share your thoughts and feelings with your father? (Q114) NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES!
FAMILY: Opportunities for Positive Involvement My parents give me lots of chances to do fun things with them. (Q119) My parents ask me what I think before most family decisions affecting me are made. (Q112) If I had a personal problem, I could ask my mom or dad for help. (Q117) FAMILY: Rewards for Conventional Involvement My parents notice when I am doing a good job, and let me know about it. (Q109) How often do your parents tell you that they are proud of you for something you have done? (Q113) Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? (Q115) Do you enjoy spending time with your father? (Q116) Never or almost never Never or almost never NO! NO! no no yes yes Sometimes Sometimes YES! YES! Often Often All the time All the time NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
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SCHOOL: Academic Failure Putting them all together, what were your grades like last year? (Q011) Mostly F's Mostly D's NO! no Mostly C's yes YES! Mostly B's Mostly A's
Are your school grades better than the grades of most students in your class? (Q025)
SCHOOL: Little Commitment to School How often do you feel that the school work you are assigned is meaningful and important. (Q027) Never How interesting are most of your courses to you? (Q028) Very interesting and stimulating How important do you think the things you are learning in school are going to be for your later life? (Q029) Very important Seldom Sometimes Often Almost Always Very dull
Quite interesting
Fairly interesting
Slightly dull
Quite important
Fairly important
Slightly important
Not at all important
Now thinking back over the past year in school, how often did you: (Q030) Enjoy being in school? (Q030a) Hate being in school? (Q030b) Try to do your best work in school? (Q030c) Never Never Never Seldom Seldom Seldom Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Often Often Often Almost always Almost always Almost always
During the LAST FOUR WEEKS how many whole days of school have you missed (Q012) Because of illness? (Q012a) Because you skipped or "cut"? (Q012b) For other reasons? (Q012c) None None None 1 day 1 day 1 day 2 days 2 days 2 days 3 days 3 days 3 days 4-5 days 4-5 days 4-5 days 6-10 days 6-10 days 6-10 days 11 or more days 11 or more days 11 or more days
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SCHOOL: Opportunities for Positive Involvement In my school, students have lots of chances to help decide things like class activities and rules. (Q017) There are lots of chances for students in my school to talk with a teacher one-on-one. (Q021) Teachers ask me to work on special classroom projects. (Q018) There are a lot of chances for students in my school to get involved in sports, clubs, and other school activities outside of class. (Q020) I have lots of chances to be part of class discussions or activities. (Q026) SCHOOL: Rewards for Conventional Involvement My teacher(s) notices when I am doing a good job and lets me know about it. (Q019) The school lets my parents know when I have done something well. (Q023) My teachers praise me when I work hard in school. (Q024) SCHOOL: Safety I feel safe at my school. (Q022) NO! no yes YES! NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
During the past 30 days, on how many days did you carry a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club on school property? (Q013) 0 days 1 day 2-3 days 4-5 days 6 or more days
During the past 30 days, on how many days did you not go to school because you felt you would be unsafe at school or on your way to or from school? (Q014) 0 days 1 day 2-3 days 4-5 days 6 or more days
During the past 12 months, how many times has someone threatened or injured you with a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club on school property? (Q015) 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4-5 times 6-7 times 8-9 times 10-11 times 12 or more
During the past 12 months, how many times were you in a physical fight on school property? (Q016) 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4-5 times 6-7 times 8-9 times 10-11 times 12 or more
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Rebelliousness I do the opposite of what people tell me, just to get them mad. (Q037) I ignore rules that get in my way. (Q034) I like to see how much I can get away with. (Q050) PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Early Initiation of Drug Use How old were you when you first: (Q032) Smoked marijuana? (Q032a) Smoked a cigarette, even just a puff? (Q032b) Had more than a sip or two of beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example vodka, whiskey, or gin)? (Q032c) Began drinking alcoholic beverages regularly that is, at least once or twice a month? (Q032d) Tried smokeless tobacco? (Q032e) Smoked marijuana? (Q032f) REPEAT of 32a Used cocaine or crack? (Q032g) Used methamphetamines (meth, crystal, crank)? (Q032h) Used LSD or other psychedelics? (Q032i) Sniffed glue, breathed the contents of an aerosol spray can, or inhaled other gases or sprays, in order to get high? (Q032j) Taken steroids without a doctor's orders? (Q032k) Used heroin or other narcotic? (Q032l) Used Derbisol? (Q032m) Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older Very false Very false Very false Somewhat false Somewhat false Somewhat false Somewhat true Somewhat true Somewhat true Very true Very true Very true
Used Quaaludes, barbiturates, or tranquilizers? (Q032n) Used Ecstasy? (Q032o)
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Early Initiation of Antisocial Behavior Got suspended from school? (Q032p) Got arrested? (Q032q) Carried a handgun? (Q032r) Attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? (Q032s) Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Antisocial Behavior How many times in the past year (the last 12 months) have you: (Q043) Been suspended from school? (Q043a) Carried a handgun? (Q043b) Sold illegal drugs? (Q043c) Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or motorcycle? (Q043d) been arrested? (Q 043e) attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? (Q043f) been drunk or high at school? (Q043g) taken a handgun to school? (Q043h) Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times
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PEER INDIVIDUAL: Favorable Attitudes Towards Antisocial Behavior How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to: (Q033) Take a handgun to school? (Q033a) Steal anything worth more than $5.00 (Q033b) Pick a fight with someone (Q033c) Attack someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? (Q033d) Stay away from school all day when their parents think they are at school? (Q033e) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Favorable Attitudes Towards Drug Use How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to: (Q033) Drink beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) regularly (at least once or twice a month)? (Q033f) smoke cigarettes? (Q033g) smoke marijuana? (Q033h) use LSD, cocaine, amphetamines, or another illegal drug? (Q033i) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Perceived Risks of Drug Use How much do you think people risk harming themselves (Physically or in other ways) if they: (Q055) Smoke one or more packs of cigarettes per day?(Q055a) Try marijuana once or twice? (Q055b) Smoke marijuana regularly (Q055c) Take one or two drinks of an alcohol beverage (beer, wine, liquor) nearly every day? (Q055d) No risk No risk No risk No risk Slight risk Slight risk Slight risk Slight risk Moderate risk Moderate risk Moderate risk Moderate risk Great risk Great risk Great risk Great risk
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Friends' Use of Drugs Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 months), how many of your best friends have: (Q031) Smoked cigarettes? (Q031a) Tried beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) When their parents didn't know about it? (Q031b) Used marijuana? (Q031c) Used LSD, cocaine, amphetamines, or other illegal drugs? (Q031d) PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Interaction with Antisocial Peers Been suspended from school? (Q031e) Carried a handgun? (Q031f) Sold illegal drugs (Q031g) Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or a motorcycle? (Q031h) Been arrested? (Q031i) Dropped out of school? (Q031j) PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Depression Sometimes I think that life is not worth it. (Q051) At times I think that I am no good at all. (Q052) All in all, I am inclined to think that I am a failure. (Q053) In the past year have you felt depressed or sad most days, even if you felt okay sometimes. (Q054) NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! None None None None None None 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 None None None None 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Employment If you have a job (part-time or full-time), how much do you work? (Q096) I do not have a job Less than 20 hrs per week 30-40 hrs per week More than 40 hrs per week
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Sensation Seeking How many times have you done the following things: (Q039) Done what feels good no matter what. (Q039a) Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month About once a month About once a month About once a month Two or three times a month Two or three times a month Two or three times a month Once a week or more Once a week or more Once a week or more
Done something dangerous because someone dared you to do it. (Q039b) Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month Done crazy things even if they are a little dangerous. (Q039c) Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Rewards for Antisocial Involvement What are the chances you would be seen as cool if you: (Q044) Smoked cigarettes? (Q044a) Began drinking alcoholic beverages regularly, at least once or twice a month? (Q044b) Smoked marijuana? (Q044c) Carried a handgun? (Q044d) No or very little chance No or very little chance No or very little chance No or very little chance Little chance Little chance Little chance Little chance Some chance Some chance Some chance Some chance Pretty good chance Pretty good chance Pretty good chance Pretty good chance Very good chance Very good chance Very good chance Very good chance
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Social Skills You are looking at CD's in the music store with a friend. You look up and see her slip a CD under her coat. She smiles and says, "Which one do you want? Go ahead, take it while nobody's around." There is no one in sight, no employees or other customers. What would you do now? (Q045) Ignore her Grab a CD and leave the store Tell her to put the CD back Act like it is a joke, and ask her to put the CD back It is 8:00 on a weeknight and you are about to go over to a friend's house when your mother asks you where you are going. You say, "Oh, just going to go hang out with some friends." She says, "No, you'll just get into trouble if you go out. Stay home tonight." What would you do now? (Q046) Leave the house anyway Explain what you are going to do with your friends, tell her when you will get home, and ask if you can go out Not say anything and start watching TV Get into an argument with her You are visiting another part of town, and you do not know any of the people your age there. You are walking down the street, and some teenager you do not know is walking toward you. He is about your size, and as he is about to pass you, he deliberately bumps into you and you almost lose your balance. What would you say or do? (Q047) Push the person back Say "Excuse me" and keep on walking Say "Watch where you're going" and keep on walking Swear at the person and walk away You are at a party at someone's house, and one of your friends offers you a drink containing alcohol. What would you say or do? (Q048) Drink it Tell your friend, "No thanks, I don't drink" and suggest that you and your friend go and do something else Just say, "No thanks" and walk away Make up a good excuse, tell your friend you had something else to do, and leave
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Belief in the Moral Order I think it is okay to take something without asking if you can get away with it. (Q038) I think it is okay to cheat at school. (Q049) It is all right to beat up people if they start the fight. (Q035) It is important to be honest with your parents, even if they become upset or you get punished. (Q036) NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES!
OUTCOME: Gang Involvement How old were you when you first: (Q032) Belonged to a gang? (Q032t) Have you ever belonged to a gang? (Q040) No, not interested Protection/safety Never Have Never Have 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 or older 17 or older
No, but would like to Friendship Yes
Yes, in the past Yes, belong now Yes, but would like to get out Other I have never belonged to a gang
If you have ever belonged to a gang, what was the one major reason you joined? (Q041)
Parents are in a gang No
If you have ever belonged to a gang, did the gang have a name? (Q042)
I never have belonged to a gang
Think of your four best friends ( the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 months), how many of your best friends have: Been members of a gang? (Q031k) RESPONSE HONESTY How important were these questions? (Q123) Not too important Fairly important Important Very Important I was honest some of the time None 1 2 3 4
How honest were you in filling out this survey? (Q124)
I was very honest I was honest pretty much of the time I was honest once in a while I was not honest at all
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DRUG USE OUTCOMES
How frequently have you used smokeless tobacco during the past 30 days? (Q056) Never Once or twice Once or twice a week About once a day More than once a day
How frequently have you smoked cigarettes during the past 30 days? (Q057) Not at all Less than one cigarette per day One to five cigarettes per day About one-half pack per day Two packs or more per day
About one pack per day
About one and one-half packs per day
On how many occasions (if any) have you had beer, wine, or hard liquor during the past 30 days? (Q058) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
Think back over the last two weeks. How many times have you had five or more alcoholic drinks in a row? (Q059) None 1 time 2 times 3-5 times 6-9 times 10 or more times
On how many occasions (if any) have you used marijuana during the past 30 days? (Q060) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used LSD or other psychedelics during the past 30 days? (Q061) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used cocaine or crack during the past 30 days? (Q062) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you sniffed glue, breathed the contents of an aerosol spray can, or inhaled other gases or sprays in order to get high during the past 30 days? (Q063) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
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DRUG USE OUTCOMES
On how many occasions (if any) have you taken methamphetamines in the past 30 days? (Q064) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used steroids without a doctor's permission during the past 30 days? (Q065) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used heroin or other narcotics during the past 30 days? (Q066) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used Quaaludes, barbiturates, or tranquilizers during the past 30 days? (Q067) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used ecstasy during the past 30 days? (Q068) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used derbisol during the past 30 days? (069) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 month), how many of your best friends have: Attended a RAVE Party? (Q031l) None 1 2 3 4
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Arizona Criminal Justice Commission
Statistical Analysis Center Publication
O u r mission is to sustain and enhance the coordination, cohesiveness, productivity and effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System in Arizona
A Study of the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey: Gang Membership Among Youth
September
2004
ARIZONA CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION
RALPH OGDEN Yuma County Sheriff
Chairperson
DENNIS GARRETT Department of Public Safety Director
Vice-Chairperson
JOSEPH ARPAIO Maricopa County Sheriff
DUANE BELCHER Board of Executive Clemency Chairperson
JIM BOLES City of Winslow Mayor
DAVID K. BYERS Administrative Office of the Courts Director
RON CHRISTENSEN Gila County Board of Supervisors
CLARENCE DUPNIK Pima County Sheriff
TONY ESTRADA Santa Cruz County Sheriff
TERRY GODDARD Attorney General
BARBARA LAWALL Pima County Attorney
ROD MARQUARDT Mohave County Chief Probation Officer
J.T. McCANN Flagstaff Police Department Chief
RICHARD MIRANDA Tucson Police Department Chief
ROBERT CARTER OLSON Pinal County Attorney
RICHARD M. ROMLEY Maricopa County Attorney
DORA SCHRIRO Department of Corrections Director RICHARD YOST El Mirage Police Department Chief
CHRISTOPHER SKELLY Judge, Retired
JOHN BLACKBURN, JR. Executive Director CHUCK KATZ, Ph.D. Arizona State University West STEVE BALLANCE Statistical Analysis Center Director
The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission and the Statistical Analysis Center would like to thank the students and schools that participated in the Arizona Youth Survey, allowing for the publication of this report. We would like to recognize the principle investigator for this report, Charles M. Katz, Ph.D. from Arizona State University West for his dedication and hard work in completing this study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Steve Harrison, Bach Harrison, L.L.C. Jean Ajamie, Arizona Department of Education Sheila Hoppe, Governor's Division of Drug and Gang Policy Lieutenant Dan Mitchell, Arizona Department of Public Safety Denise Muller, Arizona Department of Education Richard Porter, Arizona Department of Health Services Lisa Schumaker, Arizona Department of Health Services Nicole Yancey, Governor's Office, Division for Children
TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION PURPOSE OF THE REPORT STUDY OVERVIEW Participants Measures SURVEY FINDINGS: CORRELATES OF GANG INVOLVEMENT Proportion of Youth that are Gang Members Demographic Characteristics of Gang and Nongang Youth Family Background of Gang and Nongang Youth Age of First Gang Involvement Reasons to Join the Gang Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Membership THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GANGS, CRIME, AND DRUGS Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales THE IMPACT OF GANGS ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR, AND CLIMATE SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS APPENDIX A ? Item Construct Dictionary 1 4 5 6 6 7 11 11 12 13 15 16 17 19 19 35 40 43
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Youth gangs are a problem for communities and law enforcement and have been growing over the past two decades. According to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, the National Youth Gang Survey results "estimated that youth gangs were active in over 2,300 cities with populations over 25,000 in 2002." Law enforcement in the state indicate that Arizona is no exception to the national gang problem. This report seeks to advance our understanding of the scope and nature of the gang problem in Arizona. In particular, this report focused on three major issues: (1) the correlates of gang involvement; (2) the relationship between gangs, crime, and drugs; and (3) the impact of gang participation on school performance, school behavior, and school climate. These issues were examined using data from the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey. The survey was randomly administered to 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students in 63 schools across the state resulting in 12,203 valid surveys. The Arizona Youth Survey was based on the Communities That Care model that examines risk and protective factors in four domains: community, family, school, and individual-peer. Each of the domains were developed as part of the social development model (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996), which focuses on how risk and protective factors work in concert with one another to influence pro-social and delinquent behavior. In sum, their model posits that socialization processes are similar for those who engage in pro-social or delinquent behavior. Students who said they were gang members were less likely to live with two parents than nongang members (70.7 percent compared to 56.3). The data also showed that gang members were about three times more likely to live with someone other than a parent when compared to nongang members. About half of 8th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 12 years old or younger. Similarly, 50 percent of 10th and 12th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 13 years old or younger. Gang members were more likely to have used alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and any drug in their life-time compared to nongang members. The pattern was even more pronounced when 30-day drug use and sales between gang and nongang members were compared. In particular, gang members are two to three times more likely to use a specific drug than their same sex, nongang peers. Native American and African American gang members were the most likely to have reported marijuana use and Native American and Hispanic gang members were the most likely to have reported cocaine use when compared to the other ethnic groups. Almost all gang members, regardless of ethnicity, had used alcohol within their life-time, and the majority had used alcohol within the past 30 days. Gang membership was found to be a strong predictor of drug sales, with gang members being about three to six times more likely to sell drugs than nongang members. About 30 percent of female gang members and almost 40 percent of male gang members had sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to four percent of nongang females and 10 percent of nongang males. Approximately 11 percent of
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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female gang members and 21 percent of male gang members reported that they had frequently sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to 1.3 percent and 4.4 percent of nongang females and males, respectively. These findings suggest that female gang members are not simply "wanna-be" gang members or the "girlfriends" of gang members; rather, this research suggests that female gang members engage in the same types of delinquency, drug use, and sales as their male peers, albeit at a lower frequency. These results contrast with the fact that female gang members only make up about 10 percent of documented gang members in the state of Arizona. Approximately seven percent of males in the state self-admitted to gang membership and 4.6 percent of females self-admitted to gang membership, with minority males being the most likely to self-admit to gang membership. Almost 40 percent of the total number of students who self-admitted to gang membership were female, and a substantial number of Native Americans self-admitted to gang membership (10.7 percent). Of those that identified themselves as gang members, 77 percent were minorities. Approximately 32 percent of those self-admitting to being in a gang were age 13 and under. Gang members were 3.4 times more likely to bring a weapon to school (in the past 30 days) and 10.5 times more likely to bring a gun to school (in the past 12 months) than nongang members. Additionally, gang members were almost four times more likely to have been frequently drunk or high at school, nearly five times more likely to have been frequently threatened or injured at school, and over nine times more likely to be in six or more fights at school within a 12 month period than nongang members. Respondents who attended schools with a serious gang problem were more likely to report delinquency and victimization than students attending schools with a minor or moderate gang problem. Those attending schools with a serious gang problem were roughly three times more likely to report frequently getting into fights, repeatedly being threatened/injured with a weapon, and frequently bringing a handgun to school when compared to students attending schools with minor or moderate gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were also significantly more likely to report being drunk or high six or more times at school and were more likely to report bringing a weapon to school within the past 30 days. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were almost three times more likely to report not feeling safe at their school compared to respondents attending schools with a minor gang problem. This was further evidenced by the fact that 10 percent of those attending a school with a serious gang problem reported missing at least one day of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe on their way to school or at school. Respondents attending schools with a serious gang problem were five times more likely to miss four or more days of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school compared to respondents attending a school with a minor gang problem. The findings reported here have policy implications for prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. Prevention efforts and resources should be targeted
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toward youth who are exposed to more risk factors. Decreasing the number of risk factors in the environment of these youth is needed to prevent future gang membership and criminality. Most youth were found to be pulled into the gang for reasons of friendship, these gang members were the least likely to want to leave their gang. On the other hand, some gang members were pushed into their gang for protection or for family reasons. These individuals were the most likely to want out of their gang. As a consequence, a single, broad-based intervention strategy targeted toward all gang youth will not likely have an effect, rather different intervention strategies are needed to address the specific factors influencing gang membership, if such efforts are going to be successful.
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INTRODUCTION Over the past 20 years, the United States has seen a dramatic resurgence of gangs, gang members, and gang crime. In the 1970s, one was hard pressed to find many cities with a gang problem. In fact, in 1976 the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals went so far as to state, "Youth gangs are not now [n]or should not become a major obstacle of concern...Youth gang violence is not a major crime problem in the United States...what gang violence does exist can fairly readily be diverted into `constructive channels' especially through the provision of services by community agencies" (as cited by Spergel, 1995: 9). Today, however, almost every city in the United States with a population over 100,000 reports having a gang problem. Of further concern is the fact that the gang problem is no longer restricted to large cities, but that gangs are prevalent in many small and medium size cities as well. For example, 81 percent of cities with a population between 50,000 and 99,999 and 59 percent of cities with a population between 25,000 and 49,000 report having an active youth gang problem (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999: Table 4). Therefore, it should not be surprising that public concern about the nation's gang problem has escalated substantially. Prior to 1985, national polls examining community problems did not find that gangs or gang problems registered as a major concern among those polled; however, by 1994, gang violence ranked as the third most important issue facing America--behind education and drugs and before overall crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995: Table 2.3). The state of Arizona has been no exception. Official records from a number of criminal justice agencies across the state have confirmed that the gang problem has been worsening in Arizona since the 1980s. This follows a national pattern of gang activity increasing steadily during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1990, in an effort to continually monitor the gang problem, the state legislature mandated the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission to provide information about gangs and gang-related crimes. As a result, since 1990, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission has administered an annual gang survey to state, county and city law enforcement agencies in Arizona. The survey, in part, has focused on the scope and nature of the state's gang problems along with the many individual factors associated with gang membership, such as demographic characteristics and the amount of crime that can be attributed to gang members. In an effort to minimize the effect of the lack of resources that individual agencies were able to devote to suppressing and eliminating criminal street gang activities, the Gang Intelligence and Team Enforcement Model (GITEM) was developed in 1993 to allow agencies to work together using standardized procedures, data and definitions. This concept has worked well in limited areas but has been constrained by a lack of funding for statewide implementation. HB 2003 and SB 1291 were passed by the state legislature to fund GITEM however, this funding has been stripped recently; because of budget limitations.
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While these reports have provided criminal justice officials, policymakers, and the public with valuable information on the nature of the gang problem in Arizona, the data is primarily driven by surveying law enforcement agencies to report the number, size, type of gangs, along with associated illegal gang activities through tabulation of official crime statistics. It is important to recognize the limitations of this perspective as well as the potential benefits in examining the issue through an alternative means such as selfreport data through the Arizona Youth Survey. There are two limitations associated with using crime-driven data. The first is that gang data obtained from law enforcement agencies is often times incomplete for the purposes of obtaining accurate estimates of gang involvement among youth. (Hagedorn, 1990; Zatz, 1987, Chesney-Lind et al., 1990, McCorkle and Miethe, 1998; Katz, 2003) (However, for exception see Katz, 2000). Gang files maintained by police are usually compiled using data associated with ongoing gang activity. Gang members are identified as active, added to an agency's list, and remain on that list indefinitely. Because resources are focused on ensuring newly identified gang members are added to the database, little effort is made to remove individuals when they cease to be a gang member, or are no longer active in the gang for which they were originally put on the list for. This creates lists that may include gang members long after they cease gang activity (Spergel, 1995: 15). Subsequently, this produces inflated estimates of the current number of gang members, thereby producing less valid conclusions about the nature of the gang problem. Police-based data also can be misleading as it defines gang membership solely in terms of a police problem. For example, in one agency study, Spergel and Curry (1990) state that, "Our interest in youth gangs was defined primarily in law enforcement terms. Therefore, this study deals mainly with high-profile youth gangs who have come to police attention usually for violent, but sometimes for various other kinds of criminal behavior" (p. 289). Gang members are included in police databases when they commit, or are suspected of committing, criminal activity. This practice can fail to capture people who are involved in the gang but have not been apprehended for criminal activity or are not directly involved in criminal activity. Consequently, law enforcement reports on gangs only include individuals who are the focus of evident criminal gang activity. While information is needed on gangs as a crime problem, over-reliance on any one data source may create assumptions based on data that does not accurately reflect the entire gang problem. Self-report survey data allows for further examination and a more comprehensive view as to the nature and scope of gang behavior. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT The purpose of this report is to use self-report data from a general sample of school-aged youth to examine the nature and scope of Arizona's gang problem. In particular, this report is intended to supplement data found in the yearly report on gangs conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission. The objective of this
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report is to provide different types of information on gangs to gain a more comprehensive view of the gang problem. Analyses were organized into three themes: (1) The correlates of gang involvement; (2) The relationship between gangs, crime, and drugs; (3) The impact of gangs on school performance, school behavior, and school climate. These analyses were used to determine the implications of gang participation among Arizona youth. STUDY OVERVIEW This report on gangs is part of a larger study, the 2002 Arizona Youth Survey. The Arizona Youth Survey was conducted by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission with technical assistance from the Southwest Prevention Center at the University of Oklahoma. The study is conducted on a semi-annual basis and is used to inform policy makers regarding youth drug use and delinquency in the state. As such, site selection and sampling procedures were dictated by that study's design. Participants Records provided by the Arizona Department of Education were used to identify all schools in the state. First, schools were stratified by county to ensure that a proportionate number of schools and students were sampled from each of the Arizona's 15 counties. Second, because the study was limited to students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grade, schools that did not offer these grades were removed from the sample. Third, schools were categorized into types representing the size of the school (large, medium, and small) and the grade levels that were taught in each school (i.e., kindergarten through 12th grade, 6th through 8th grade, 9th through 12th grade). Schools were then randomly selected from each category. If a school refused to participate in the study, another school from the same category was randomly selected as a replacement. Of the original 59 schools that were asked to participate in the study, 30.5 percent refused. When compared to other similar studies, the school refusal rate was quite low (e.g., Johnston et al., Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2001). With a confidence interval of .95, the sample of 63 schools had a margin of error for each grade of less than + 1.5 percent, and, as such, provided a uniquely geographic and demographically diverse sample. Furthermore, for the counties, the overall sample of students produced a margin of error of less than +5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. At the selected sites, questionnaires were administered to all students in each respective grade that were in attendance on the specified day. Passive consent procedures were used to obtain consent from parents for their child's participation in the study (i.e., parents were requested to inform the school if they did not want their child to participate in the study). The number of parents refusing to allow their child to participate in the study was very low, ranging from .3 percent to 5.6 percent. As a
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result, participation rates in this study were quite high, with 66.9 to 95.8 percent of students in attendance on the day of the survey completing the questionnaires, resulting in a total sample of 12,909. Initial analysis of the data showed that some of the respondents did not provide valid information. Several strategies were employed to assess the honesty of respondents' answers. For example, one question asked about a nonexistent drug and another question, at the end of the survey, asked the respondent how honest they were in answering the questions in the survey. If the respondents indicated that they had used the nonexistent drug or indicated that they were "not honest at all" in completing the survey, they were removed from the sample. Additionally, some respondents self-reported an impossibly high amount of drugs and some respondents did not respond to a large number of the questions. These questionnaires were also removed from the sample. As such, 706 (or 5.4 percent) of the surveys were eliminated from the analysis, leaving a total of 12,203 for analysis. Measures The questionnaires given to the students were developed as part of a larger project called the Six-State Consortium, led by the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington. The goal of the Consortium was to develop a survey instrument that could be used by all six states to examine risk and protective levels associated with drug use. The survey used in this study is also used by the Diffusion Consortium project that involves seven states and is funded by four federal agencies: the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), and Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).
Gang Membership. Gang membership was the primary outcome variable used for these analyses. Respondents were asked if they had been a gang member in the past and whether they were a current gang member. Esbensen and colleagues (1993, 1996, 2002) have frequently and repeatedly found that self-nomination for gang membership "is a particularly robust measure of gang membership capable of distinguishing gang from nongang youth" (Esbensen et al., 2001: 124). In one study Esbensen et al. examined about 6,000 middle school students using a continuum with five increasingly restrictive definitions for gang membership. They reported that "the largest distinction...is that between those youths who claim to never have been a gang member and those who claim gang affiliation at some time (p. 124). As such, for the purposes of this study, respondents who self-reported that they where either a former or current or gang member were initially considered "gang members." The definition of a gang member was further restricted by following Esbensen et al.'s lead of asking respondents if they could name the gang to which they belonged. This procedure helped to distinguish between those who were members of informal peer groups and gangs. Only those respondents who could provide the name of their gang were considered gang members for this report. Therefore, the final sample of
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gang members consisted of those who either self-admitted having been in a gang or admitted to current gang membership, and those who could name their gang. The respondents were asked several questions about their socio-demographic and familial background. Sociodemographic questions included measures of the respondent's ethnicity, gender, age, and grade. With regard to their family backgrounds, questions were asked that related to the respondent's parental arrangement, number of siblings, the educational attainment of their mother and father, and the primary language spoken at home.
Socio-Demographic and Familial Background.
Gang Involvement. Several questions measured the respondent's involvement in gangs, beyond those used for the outcome measure. These included questions about the age the respondents first joined their gang and why the respondents joined their gang. Additionally, the survey instrument included a measure of the number of their best friends that were gang members and the individual's level of involvement in his/her gang.
factors used in the analyses. The measures are organized according to the four domains: community, family, school, and individual-peer. Each of the domains were developed as part of the social development model (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996), which focuses on how risk and protective factors work in concert with one another to influence pro-social and delinquent behavior. In sum, their model posits that socialization processes are similar for those who engage in pro-social or delinquent behavior; namely, that behavior is influenced by: (1) an individual's involvement with pro-social or delinquent peers (differential association theory); (2) that it is learned when costs and rewards are attached to behavior (social learning); and (3) the degree to which a youth becomes bonded to pro-social or delinquent individuals (social control) (Battin-Pearson, et al., 1998:2).
Risk and Protective Factors. Exhibit 1 summarizes the risk and protective
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Community Low neighborhood attachment Community disorganization Transition and mobility Laws and norms favorable to drug use
Exhibit 1: Risk and Protective Factors Organized by Domain
Family Poor family management Conflict History of antisocial behavior Parental attitudes favorable toward drug use Parental attitudes favorable to antisocial behavior Attachment Opportunities for positive involvement Rewards for conventional involvement School Academic Failure
Perceived availability of drugs Perceived availability of guns Opportunities for positive involvement Rewards for conventional involvement
Little commitment to school Opportunities for positive involvement Rewards for conventional involvement
Individual-Peer Early initiation of drug use Early initiation of antisocial behavior Antisocial behavior Favorable attitudes towards antisocial behavior Favorable attitudes toward drug use
Perceived risks of drug use Friends' use of drugs Interaction with antisocial peers Sensation seeking Rewards for antisocial involvement Social skills Belief in moral order
The community domain included eight factors (or scales) associated with the area in which the respondent lived. It included scales associated with neighborhood attachment (three items); community disorganization (five items); transitions and mobility (five items); laws and norms favorable to drug use (eight items); perceived availability of drugs (five items); perceived availability of guns (one item); opportunities for positive involvement (six items); rewards for conventional involvement (three items). The family domain consisted of eight factors related to the individual's family history, behavior, involvement, and attitudes. It included factors focusing on family management (nine items); conflict (three items); history of anti-social behavior (10 items); parental attitudes favorable to anti-social behavior (three items); attachment (four items); opportunities for positive involvement (three items); and rewards for conventional involvement (four items). The school domain contained four factors focused on the respondent's performance, commitment, and opportunities at school. Specifically, the four scales were constructed of questions centering on academic failure (two items); little commitment to school (nine items); opportunities for positive involvement (five items); and rewards for conventional involvement (four items). The individual-peer domain included 12 factors. These 12 factors were associated with the individual's attitudes and behavior and his/her peer's attitudes and
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behavior. It included scales associated with rebelliousness (three items); early initiation of drug use (14 items); early initiation of anti-social behavior (four items); anti-social behavior (11 items); favorable attitudes towards anti-social behavior (five items); favorable attitudes toward drugs (four items); perceived risks of drug use (four items); friends' use of drugs (four items); interaction with anti-social peers (six items); sensation seeking (three items); rewards for antisocial behavior (four items); social skills (four items); and belief in moral order (four items). Accordingly, there were a total of 23 risk factor scales and nine protective factor scales that were measured through the survey instrument. Each of the scales appeared to be reliable, with an average alpha value of .79. For a dictionary containing each item for each protective and risk factor scale see Appendix A. Scores for each factor were dichotomized to indicate whether the respondent was at high risk or protection. This strategy was used to make the interpretation of the findings more easily interpretable. Cut points were calculated to determine whether an individual was at high risk or protection using the procedure recommended by Briney et al., (2002). Specifically, for the risk factor scales a median cut point was used, plus .15 times the mean absolute deviation (MAD), and for the protective factor scores a median cut point, minus .15 times the mean absolute deviation (MAD) was used. This procedure was used because it was shown to more accurately differentiate between those who exhibited a behavior of interest and those who do not, when compared to other, more commonly used cut-point procedures (e.g., Farrington, 1989; Herrenkohl et al., 2000).
Delinquency, Drug Use and Drug Sales. Several questions were also used to assess the extent to which respondents were involved in delinquency, drug use and drug sales. These behaviors were measured using two sets of six items. First, one set of questions measured the age at which the respondent engaged in a specific behavior. The heading for the set of questions read, "How old were you when you first..." Specific items included, "Had more than a sip or two of beer, wine, or hard liquor," "Smoked Marijuana," "Used cocaine or crack," "Got arrested," "Carried a handgun," "Attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them." Responses for age were scored on a nine point response scale (0=never have, 1=10 years old or younger, 2=11 years old, 3=12 years old, 4=13 years old, 5=14 years old, 6=15 years old, 7=16 years old, 8=17 years old or older). This question was dichotomized to indicate whether the respondent had ever engaged in the behavior. Another set of questions asked the respondents how often they had engaged in specific forms of delinquency, drug use, and drug sales. One set of questions asked the respondents "How many times in the past 12 months have you..." Items measuring this behavior included, "carried a hand gun", "sold illegal drugs", "stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or motorcycle", "been arrested", and "attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them." Several additional questions focused on how many occasions (if any) the respondent used a specific drug in the past 30 days. This question was asked for alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. A seven-point response scale was used (0=0 occasions, 1=1-2 occasions, 2=3-5 occasions, 3=6-9 occasions, 4=10Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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19 occasions, 5=20-39 occasions, 6=40 or more occasions). Because of the few number of respondents who indicated that they had engaged in any of the behaviors more than six times, each variable was truncated so that all responses indicating that the behavior had occurred more than six times were recoded into one category to reduce the skewness of the data. asked several questions about their school behavior, performance, and climate. First, two questions looked at school performance. One measured the number of whole school days the respondent missed due to skipping in the past 30 days, and another how many times that student had been suspended in the past 12 months. Second, five questions focused on school behavior. In particular, respondents were asked how many times in the past 12 months they had been (1) threatened or injured with a weapon at school; (2) in a fight in school; (3) drunk or high at school; and (4) taken a handgun to school. An additional question asked the respondent how many times in the past 30 days they had carried a weapon to school. Three different response scales were used for the above measures; consequently it was not possible to categorize them into similar scales. However, once again, the scales were truncated to reduce skewness. Issues related to school climate and gangs were also examined. Data on gang membership was aggregated by school. This allowed us to examine the prevalence of gang members at each surveyed school and examine the effect that the prevalence of gang membership had on school climate. Those schools that were one standard deviation above the mean in terms of the proportion of students that were selfidentified gang members were categorized as "Schools with a Serious Gang Problem." Conversely, schools that were one standard deviation below the mean with regard to the proportion of students that were self-identified gang members were categorized as "Schools with a Minor Gang problem." All schools within the standard deviation were categorized as "Schools with a Moderate Gang Problem." Two other school climate measures were used to examine fear. One question asked the respondent "I feel safe at school" and had a "yes" or "no" response scale. Another more specific question relating to fear asked the respondent, "During the past 30 days, on how many days did you not go to school because you felt you would be unsafe at school or on the way to or from school?" The response scale for this question was truncated as well so that those responses that indicated that the student missed school four or more times in the past month were collapsed into one category (i.e., 0= 0 times, 1=1 time, 2=2-3 times, 3=4 or more times). SURVEY FINDINGS: CORRELATES OF GANG INVOLVEMENT Proportion of Arizona Youth that are Gang Members The analyses showed that the proportion of youth involved with gangs varied by demographic variables. As seen in Exhibit 2, about seven percent of males in the state self-admitted to gang membership and 4.6 percent of females self-admitted to gang
School Behavior, Performance, and Climate. The respondents were also
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membership. With regard to ethnicity, 11 percent of African Americans self-reported that they were gang members, followed by 10.7 percent of Native Americans, 9.6 percent of Hispanics, 5.0 percent of Asians, 2.6 percent of Whites and 6.6 percent of those from other ethnic groups.
Exhibit 2: Percent of Arizona Youth that are Gang Members by Demographic Characteristics
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Fe m al M e al e W hi te Af ric an Na tiv e Hi Am er ica n sp an ic As ia n Ot he r
11.0
10.7 9.6
7.2 5.0
6.6
4.6 2.6
Am er ica n
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Demographic Characteristics of Gang and Nongang Youth Of those that identified themselves as gang members almost 49 percent were Hispanic, 23 percent were White, 19 percent were Native American, 4.4 percent were African American, and 1.9 percent were Asian (See Exhibit 3). Interestingly, about 40 percent of self-proclaimed gang members were females. With respect to age and grade, approximately 32 percent of the gang sample was 13 and under, 40.2 percent were 14-15 years old, and 28.3 percent were 16 or older. Likewise, 36.7 percent of the gang members were in the 8th grade, 41.4 percent were in the 10th grade, and 21.9 percent were in the 12th grade. Exhibit 3: Demographic Characteristics of Gang and Nongang Youths Nongang Gang Ethnicity White 53.8 22.8 African American 2.3 4.4 Native American 9.8 18.7 Hispanic 29.0 48.9 Asian 2.2 1.9 Other 3.0 3.3 Gender Female 51.6 39.7 Male 48.4 60.3 Age 13 & under 27.0 31.5 14-15 40.2 40.2 16 & over 32.8 28.3 Grade 8th 27.6 36.7 10th 40.9 41.4 12th 31.5 21.9 Family Background of Gang and Nongang Youth Exhibit 4 shows that there were substantial differences between gang and nongang members with respect to their family background. Gang members were less likely to live with two parents (70.7 percent compared to 56.3) and more likely to live with a single parent (24.2 percent compared to 28.9 percent) than nongang members. However, the most pronounced difference between gang and nongang members was related to those youth that lived with someone other than a parent. In particular, the data showed that gang members were about three times more likely to live with someone other than a parent (i.e., foster home, friend, aunt, uncle, grandparent, etc.) when compared to nongang members. The exhibit also illustrates that the parents of gang members have less education than the parents of nongang members. The parents of gang members were more likely to have not graduated from high school and
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were about half as likely to have graduated from college as the parents of nongang members. There were also differences between gang and nongang member's home life in terms of the primary language used at home and the number of siblings residing at home. Gang members were significantly less likely to speak English at home. When at home, 68.6 percent of gang members spoke English, 24.5 percent spoke Spanish, and 6.9 percent spoke another language, compared to nongang members whom 83.1 percent spoke English, 14.3 percent spoke Spanish, and 2.6 percent spoke another language. Gang members also had more brothers and sisters living with them at home. About 66 percent of gang members lived with three or more siblings compared to about 49 percent of nongang members. Exhibit 4: Family Background of Gang and Nongang Youth Nongang Gang Parental Arrangement Intact Family 70.7 56.3 Single Parent 24.2 28.9 Other 5.0 14.8 Number of Siblings None 4.7 2.3 1 21.1 10.8 2 25.5 19.4 3 17.7 20.3 4 11.9 16.4 5 6.9 9.1 6 or more 12.1 21.6 Language Used at Home English 83.1 68.6 Spanish 14.3 24.5 Other 2.6 6.9 Father's Education Non-High School Graduate 13.6 18.4 High School Degree 57.6 67.9 College or Graduate Degree 28.8 13.7 Mother's Education Non-High School Graduate 14.6 24.4 High School Degree 54.0 58.0 College or Graduate Degree 31.4 17.6
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Age of First Gang Involvement While the age of first gang involvement varied substantially by grade, the data generally showed that youth were very young when they first started to become involved with gangs. As seen in Exhibits 5 and 6, about 50 percent of 8th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 12 years old or younger. Similarly, 50 percent of 10th and 12th grade gang members reported that their first involvement with gangs began when they were 13 years old or younger. Exhibit 5: Age of First Gang Involvement by Grade 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade 10 or younger 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 or older 20.5 12.0 21.8 32.1 10.7 1.7 0.0 1.3 14.1 7.2 10.1 22.7 21.7 12.6 8.3 3.2 18.9 8.1 8.8 19.6 14.9 10.8 8.8 10.1
Age
Exhibit 6: Age of First Gang Involvement by Grade
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 8th Grade 10 or younger 11 10th Grade 12 13 14 15 16 12th Grade 17 or older
Percent
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Reasons to Join the Gang Reasons why the individual chose to join his/her gang was looked at by gang involvement and grade level. The findings in Exhibit 7 showed that former and current gang members most often joined their gang because of friendship. In other words, they joined their gang because they already had friends that were gang members and the gang was part of their social network. Of interest, is the finding that many of those self-reported gang members who indicated they joined a gang for reasons of protection/safety or because they had a parent that was in the gang wanted out of their gang. Exhibit 7: Reasons for Joining a Gang by Level of Gang Involvement
Former Protection/Safety Friendship Parents are in a gang Other 21.7 35.0 0.0 43.4 8th Grade Current 19.0 34.5 1.2 45.2 Would Like Out 31.6 15.8 5.3 47.4 Former 18.9 42.9 2.9 35.4 10th Grade Current 20.8 40.6 6.3 32.3 Would Like Out 25.0 33.3 16.7 25.0 Former 18.8 47.5 2.0 31.7 12th Grade Current Would Like Out 13.2 40.0 42.1 10.0 7.9 36.8 10.0 40.0
Further analysis was done on the relationship between friendship and involvement in a gang by examining the number of gang friends of gang and nongang members. Exhibit 8 illustrates that gang members were significantly more likely to have friends that were gang members when compared to nongang members. For example, gang members were found to be about 15 to 25 times more likely to have four of their best friends be gang members when compared to nongang members. Although, it should be noted that a surprising number of gang members had no good friends that were gang members. Approximately 18 percent of 8th grade gang members, 30 percent of 10th grade gang members, and 34 percent of 12th grade gang members had no friends that were gang members. Exhibit 8: Number of Friends that are Gang Members by Gang Participation
Number of Friends that are Gang Members 0 1 2 3 4 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Nongang 87.6 6.3 3.0 1.2 1.9 Gang 17.9 20.3 16.7 8.8 36.3 Nongang 91.4 4.5 1.9 .8 1.4 Gang 30.3 14.6 12.6 7.8 34.7 Nongang 93.7 2.9 1.3 .8 1.3 Gang 34.2 16.1 9.0 9.0 31.6
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Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Membership Given the many attitudinal and behavioral differences between gang and nongang members, it might be expected that there would be a number of community, family, school, and individual-peer differences that affect membership in a gang. Below the four domains and their influence on gang participation was examined. Exhibit 9 shows the risk and protective factors by gang and nongang membership and grade. The findings with regard to factors within the community domain indicated that gang members were more likely to have had low attachment to their neighborhood, lived in highly disorganized communities, and lived a highly mobile and transitory life. They also lived in neighborhoods where drugs and guns were readily available and where neighbors had favorable attitudes toward drug use. Additionally, gang members lived in communities were there were fewer opportunities for positive, pro-social involvement (i.e., sports, scouts, Boys and Girls Club), and, at least for 8th graders, lived in neighborhoods were there were fewer adults who rewarded them for good behavior. With regard to the family domain, gang members were found to be members of families that were poorly managed, had high levels of conflict, and a history of antisocial behavior. They were also substantially more likely to have had parents who had favorable attitudes toward drug use and other forms of anti-social behavior and felt little attachment to their parents. Furthermore, gang members, when compared to their nongang peers, had fewer opportunities for positive family involvement and were not as likely to be rewarded for good behavior by their parents. Similarly, with regard to school, gang members were more likely to experience academic failure, had little commitment toward school, had fewer positive school-related opportunities, and were less likely to be rewarded by teachers for good behavior. Last, gang and nongang members were found to have very different individual and peer experiences. With regard to individual behavior, gang members were more likely to be sensation seekers, rebellious, and had earlier experiences with drugs and anti-social behavior. They were also more likely to have had favorable attitudes toward drug use and anti-social behavior and perceived that there were fewer risks associated with drug use than nongang members. When compared to nongang members, gang members were also more likely to have had poor social skills and had a weak moral order. Likewise, gang members were more likely to have had peers that were involved with drugs, gangs, and anti-social behavior and had peers that rewarded them for their anti-social behavior.
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Exhibit 9: Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang Membership
Community Domain Low Neighborhood Attachment High Community Disorganization Transitions & Mobility Laws & Norms Favor Drug Use Perceived Availability of Drugs Perceived Availability of Handguns Opportunity for Involvement Rewards for Involvement Family Domain Poor Family Management High Family Conflict Family History of Anti-Social Behavior Parent Attitudes Favorable to Anti-Social Behavior Parent Attitudes Favor Drug Use Family Attachment Family Opportunities for Involvement Family Rewards for Involvement School Domain Academic Failure Low Commitment to School School Opportunity for Involvement School Rewards for Pro-Social Involvement Peer-individual Domain Rebelliousness Early Initiation of Anti-Social Behavior Early Initiation of Drug Use Attitudes Favorable to Anti-Social Behavior Attitudes Favorable to Drug Use Perceived Risk of Drug Use Individual Anti-Social Peers Individual Peer's Drug Use Sensation Seeking Rewards for Anti-Social behavior Individual Social Skills Individual Belief in Moral Order Gang Involvement 8th Grade Nongang Gang 38.3 40.1 42.6 33.3 35.6 35.2 44.1 35.0 41.1 45.5 39.6 41.6 24.6 53.9 59.7 62.4 50.6 38.2 58.2 51.8 47.8 73.0 63.0 57.3 73.2 67.4 28.4 26.0 71.5 60.0 75.9 56.4 41.1 33.9 45.7 50.0 77.2 57.9 43.8 38.4 10th Grade Nongang Gang 44.9 46.4 46.2 38.4 49.9 27.2 40.9 40.6 41.9 35.6 42.0 43.6 41.4 47.5 55.8 54.6 51.1 43.4 55.4 59.2 52.3 74.8 70.6 59.3 73.4 55.9 28.7 38.5 64.6 52.5 72.8 67.1 58.4 30.6 44.1 40.5 75.5 57.8 37.9 46.9
12th Grade Nongang Gang 46.6 42.0 45.2 31.8 56.0 32.7 43.7 40.0 44.2 31.4 35.6 41.9 41.6 60.2 56.5 56.7 46.4 42.2 62.6 49.5 59.9 67.8 75.2 44.8 75.2 58.8 28.9 39.0 65.0 44.9 74.1 62.9 62.2 45.6 46.3 38.5 66.7 47.8 47.8 40.8
36.4 29.6 36.8 42.3 33.2 45.3 48.2 38.7 37.7 34.1 62.6 54.5 14.3
68.6 75.6 80.4 73.2 69.7 71.8 85.2 81.6 73.7 66.5 21.9 24.8 100.0
42.6 33.3 39.5 53.0 44.4 43.2 49.8 42.9 43.0 30.3 53.2 60.5 11.1
71.0 81.2 78.8 79.7 71.0 70.8 85.5 74.7 69.6 46.9 20.5 34.7 100.0
39.4 33.0 39.9 51.0 42.0 44.7 50.0 38.8 45.0 36.7 65.5 46.4 8.8
65.6 78.9 75.2 68.4 68.2 60.9 81.3 70.1 65.8 56.5 34.2 26.8 100.0
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GANGS, CRIME, AND DRUGS Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales Exhibit 10 shows the incidence of self-reported drug use and sales by gender. The data clearly shows that gang members, regardless of gender were more likely to have used alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and any drug in their life time compared to nongang members. The pattern was repeated and was even more pronounced when 30-day drug use and sales between gang and nongang members were compared. In particular, both male and female gang members are about two to thirteen times more likely to use a specific drug than their same-sexed, nongang peer. Likewise, gang members were significantly more likely to be involved in drug sales. About 30 percent of female gang members had sold drugs in the past 12 months and almost 40 percent of male gang members had sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to four percent of nongang females and 10 percent of nongang males. Of special interest is the finding that female gang members were significantly more likely to engage in drug use and sales than male nongang members. For example, the analyses showed that female gang members were about four times more likely to have ever used cocaine and used it in the past 30 days, three times more likely to have sold drugs in the past 12 months, two times more likely to have ever used marijuana and any drug, and used them in the past 30 days, and 30 to 60 percent more likely to have ever used alcohol and used it in the last 30 days than male nongang members. Exhibit 10: Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales By Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership Nongang Gang Ratio of Female Female Male Female Male Gang to Male Nongang Life-time Usage Alcohol 71.5 68.8 94.1 91.0 1.4:1 Marijuana 36.2 40.1 75.8 79.8 1.9:1 Cocaine 7.0 7.2 26.8 31.1 3.7:1 Any 40.3 43.4 82.8 83.2 1.9:1 30-Day Usage Alcohol 46.3 44.6 74.8 71.9 1.7:1 Marijuana 16.9 20.5 48.1 49.9 2.3:1 Cocaine 2.5 2.9 13.6 15.6 4.7:1 Any 20.9 24.2 59.5 57.3 2.5:1 12-Month Sold Drugs 4.3 9.7 28.8 38.1 3.0:1
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Exhibit 11 presents the results comparing the incidence of self-reported drug use and sales by ethnicity while controlling for gang membership. Within each ethnic group, gang members were much more likely to have reported ever using a drug and having used drugs within the past 30 days when compared to nongang members. The smallest ratio of drug use was between Whites for life-time cocaine use, and the largest ratio was between Hispanics for cocaine use within the last 30 days. The data clearly showed that almost all gang members of each ethnic group had used alcohol within their life-time and the majority had used alcohol within the past 30 days. Native American and African American gang members were the most likely to have reported marijuana use and Native American and Hispanic gang members were the most likely to have reported cocaine use when compared to the other ethnic groups. Asian gang members reported the least amount of drug use. Similarly, gang membership was found to be a strong predictor of drug sales, with gang members, regardless of ethnicity, being about three to six times more like to sell drugs than nongang members. Native American gang members were the most likely to report drug sales, followed by Whites, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asians.
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Exhibit 11: Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales By Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership
White Nongang Life-time Usage African American 62.8 35.5 4.1 38.1 38.7 21.8 2.1 25.3 7.7 Native American 63.1 53.7 8.7 56.9 35.0 26.0 3.5 29.1 6.8 Hispanic Asian
Other
30-Day Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
70.4 37.7 7.1 41.2 47.1 19.2 2.6 22.9 7.3
73.2 33.8 6.7 38.3 47.4 14.7 2.6 19.0 5.9
63.5 27.2 3.3 31.4 37.5 15.0 1.3 17.2 3.7
75.3 43.5 8.9 47.0 45.6 22.1 4.1 26.6 8.9
12-Month Sold Drugs Gang Life-time Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
91.6 74.5 22.6 80.5 77.8 46.1 7.9 55.0 33.1
93.5 83.9 17.2 83.9 60.7 63.0 11.5 63.0 25.8
90.8 89.1 29.0 91.5 63.6 56.2 13.2 63.0 39.5
93.1 73.7 33.1 80.4 75.3 45.3 17.3 56.3 33.0
92.3 69.2 15.4 69.2 83.3 25.0 9.1 45.5 23.1
87.0 78.3 26.1 82.6 65.2 60.9 21.7 65.2 34.8
30-Day Usage
12-Month Sold Drugs
Life-time Usage
Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Ethnicity
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any 1.3:1 1.2:1 1.1:1 1.3:1 1.7:1 2.4:1 3.0:1 2.4:1 4.5:1 1.5:1 2.4:1 4.2:1 2.2:1 1.6:1 2.9:1 5.5:1 2.5:1 3.4:1 1.4:1 1.7:1 3.3:1 1.6:1 1.8:1 2.2:1 3.8:1 2.2:1 5.8:1 1.3:1 2.2:1 4.9:1 2.1:1 1.6:1 3.1:1 6.7:1 3.0:1 5.6:1 1.5:1 2.5:1 4.7:1 2.2:1 2.2:1 1.7:1 7.0:1 2.6:1 6.2:1 1.2:1 1.8:1 2.9:1 1.8:1 1.4:1 2.8:1 5.3:1 2. 5:1 3.9:1
30-Day Usage
12-Month Sold Drugs
Exhibit 12 reports the incidence of self-reported drug use and sales by grade for nongang and gang members. For life-time and 30-day usage, drug use generally increased substantially from the 8th grade to the 10th grade and from the 10th grade to the 12th grade, regardless of gang affiliation. There were, however, a few exceptions.
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Life-time marijuana use and drug sales were similar for 10th and 12th graders and 30day cocaine use for gang members was fairly similar across grade levels. Likewise, as the grade level increased, so did the ratio of self-reported drug use and sales. For example, 8th grade gang members were three times more likely to have ever used marijuana and eight times more likely to have ever used cocaine than nongang members. But by the 12th grade the ratio of gang to nongang life-time marijuana and cocaine use had been reduced to 1.7 to 1 and 3.5 to 1, respectively. Exhibit 12: Incidence of Self-Reported Drug Use and Sales By Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership
Nongang Life-time Usage 8th Grade 53.9 22.3 3.0 28.8 30.8 11.3 1.5 16.3 3.8 10th Grade 73.0 39.9 7.1 43.1 46.3 20.4 2.7 24.1 8.0 12th Grade 80.7 49.2 10.5 51.2 56.3 22.1 3.5 25.2 7.9
30-Day Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
Sold Drugs in Past 12 Months Gang Life-time Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Sold Drugs in Past 12 Months
30-Day Usage
Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any
87.9 70.7 24.9 78.7 69.6 46.9 15.2 59.0 29.9
93.6 81.6 28.2 85.2 73.4 48.7 14.4 56.7 34.6
96.1 81.2 36.8 84.1 75.7 51.0 13.3 57.6 40.4
Life-time Usage Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any 30-Day Usage Alcohol Marijuana Cocaine Any Sold Drugs in Past 12 Months
Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Grade
1.6:1 3.2:1 8.3:1 2.7:1 2.3:1 4.2:1 10.1:1 3.6:1 7.9:1 1.3:1 2.0:1 4.0:1 2.0:1 1.6:1 2.4:1 5.3:1 2.4:1 4.3:1 1.2:1 1.7:1 3.5:1 1.6:1 1.3:1 2.3:1 3.8:1 2.3:1 5.1:1
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The prevalence of 30-day drug use and sales by gender, controlling for gang membership, was also examined. Exhibit 13 illustrates that male and female gang members self-reported significantly more alcohol and drug use than their nongang peers. Gang members were about three times more likely to report that they were chronic users (i.e., six or more times a month) of alcohol and marijuana and about five to eight times more likely to report that they were chronic users of cocaine than nongang members. Additionally, approximately 11 percent of female gang members and 21 percent of male gang members reported that they had frequently sold drugs in the past 12 months, compared to 1.3 and 4.4 percent of nongang females and males, respectively. The exhibit also shows that female gang members were substantially more likely to be chronic alcohol and drug users when compared to nongang males. Specifically, female gang members were more than twice as likely to be chronic users of alcohol and marijuana and to regularly sell drugs when compared to male nongang members. Additionally, female gang members were four times as likely to be chronic users of cocaine when compared to male nongang members. Exhibit 13: 30-day Prevalence of Drug Use and Sales by Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership
Alcohol 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (chronic) Marijuana 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (chronic) Cocaine 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (chronic) Sell Drugs (12 Months) 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times (frequent) Nongang Female Male 53.7 25.6 10.8 9.9 83.1 8.3 3.3 5.3 97.5 1.6 .3 .6 95.7 2.2 .8 1.3 55.4 21.6 10.5 12.5 79.5 7.4 2.6 10.5 97.1 1.5 .8 .6 90.3 3.6 1.6 4.4 Gang Female Male 25.2 28.2 18.8 27.8 51.9 17.3 8.6 22.2 86.4 9.5 1.5 2.7 71.2 12.2 5.5 11.1 28.1 22.9 17.8 31.2 50.1 12.7 7.3 29.9 84.4 7.6 3.1 4.9 61.9 10.4 6.6 21.1
Ratio of Female Gang to Male Nongang
2.2:1
2.1:1
4.5:1
2.5:1
When just focusing on gang members the exhibit shows that many regularly used alcohol and drugs. Exhibit 14 reports that 24-50 percent of gang members used alcohol six or more times a month. Asian gang members were the most likely to report being chronic alcohol users and Native Americans were the least likely to report being a chronic alcohol user. Approximately one-fourth of gang members reported regular use of marijuana, with the exception of Asian gang members. The amount of self-reported
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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cocaine use varied substantially between ethnic groups. African Americans were the most likely to regularly use cocaine, followed by Hispanics, Native Americans, Whites, and Asians. Exhibit 14 shows the 30-day prevalence rate of self-reported drug use and sales by ethnicity. First, there were substantial differences between gang and nongang members in terms of their prevalence of alcohol use. With the exception of Asians, gang members, regardless of ethnicity, were two to three times more likely to chronically use alcohol than their nongang peers. Asian gang members, however, were seven times more likely to use alcohol six or more times a month when compared to Asian nongang members. Similarly, gang members were three to six times more likely to regularly use marijuana when compared to nongang members. The most substantial and varied difference between nongang and gang members with regard to drug use was related to chronic cocaine use. White gang members were 2.6 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than White nongang members, African American gang members were 19.3 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than African American nongang members, Native American gang members were 5.5 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than Native American nongang members, and Hispanic gang members were 6.7 times more likely to chronically use cocaine than Hispanic nongang members. Depending on the ethnic group, gang members were about four to eight times more likely to self-report regularly selling drugs than nongang members. African American gang members were the most likely to report regularly selling drugs (22.6 percent), followed by Hispanics, Whites, and Native Americans (15.9 percent, 15.6 percent, and 15.5 percent, respectively).
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Exhibit 14: 30-day Prevalence of Drug Use and Sales by Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership
White African American Native American Hispanic Asian
Other
Alcohol Nongang 0 times 53.0 61.3 65.0 52.6 62.5 54.4 1-2 times 23.5 22.7 19.0 25.9 24.2 24.7 3-5 times 10.9 5.5 8.0 11.6 7.1 12.5 6 + times (chronic) 12.5 10.5 8.0 10.0 6.3 8.4 Gang 0 times 22.2 39.3 36.4 24.7 16.7 34.8 1-2 times 29.4 14.3 26.4 23.8 16.7 30.4 3-5 times 20.3 17.9 13.2 20.0 16.7 4.3 6 + times (chronic) 28.1 28.6 24.0 31.6 50.0 30.4 Marijuana Nongang 0 times 80.8 78.2 74.0 85.3 85.0 77.9 1-2 times 7.4 9.4 11.4 6.9 8.3 10.9 3-5 times 2.9 2.6 5.4 2.4 2.9 3.1 6 + times (chronic) 8.8 9.8 9.2 5.4 3.8 8.1 Gang 0 times 53.9 37.0 43.8 54.7 75.0 39.1 1-2 times 11.8 18.5 16.5 15.4 8.3 8.7 3-5 times 6.6 14.8 13.2 6.3 8.3 4.3 6 + times (chronic) 27.6 29.6 26.4 23.6 8.3 47.8 Cocaine Nongang 0 times 97.4 97.9 96.5 97.4 98.7 95.9 1-2 times 1.5 1.3 2.7 1.3 .4 2.2 3-5 times .5 .4 .2 .6 .0 .9 6 + times (chronic) .5 .4 .6 .7 .8 .9 Gang 0 times 92.1 88.5 86.8 82.7 90.9 78.3 1-2 times 5.3 .0 6.6 11.0 9.1 8.7 3-5 times 1.3 3.8 3.3 1.6 .0 8.7 6 + times (chronic) 1.3 7.7 3.3 4.7 .0 4.3 Drug Sales (12 Months) Nongang 0 times 92.7 92.3 93.2 94.1 96.3 91.1 1-2 times 3.1 3.3 3.1 2.5 .4 3.1 3-5 times 1.1 1.2 1.9 .9 1.2 2.5 6 + times (frequent) 3.1 3.3 1.9 2.4 2.1 3.4 Gang 0 times 66.9 74.2 60.5 67.0 76.9 65.2 1-2 times 11.0 3.2 14.7 11.2 15.4 4.3 3-5 times 6.5 .0 9.3 5.9 .0 .0 6 + times (frequent) 15.6 22.6 15.5 15.9 7.7 30.4 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Ethnicity--For Chronic Drug Use and Frequent Drug Sales Only Alcohol 2.2:1 2.7:1 3.0:1 3.2:1 7.9:1 3.6:1 Marijuana 3.1:1 3.0:1 2.9:1 4.4:1 2.2:1 5.9:1 Cocaine 2.6:1 19.3:1 5.5:1 6.7:1 .0:1 4.8:1 Drug Sales 5.0:1 6.8:1 8.2:1 6.6:1 3.7:1 8.9:1
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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When the prevalence of drug use and sales by grade was examined, while controlling for gang membership, it was found that gang members were more likely to regularly use and sell drugs than their nongang member peers (See Exhibit 15). This finding was particularly pronounced among 8th graders. Specifically, 8th grade gang members were more than five times more likely to be chronic users of alcohol, six times more likely to be chronic users of marijuana, 37 times more likely to be chronic users of cocaine, and 10 times more likely to sell drugs than nongang members in the 8th grade. While this trend lessened among 12th graders, there were nevertheless still sharp differences between gang and nongang members in terms of those who chronically used and sold drugs. About 25-30 percent of gang members, regardless of grade, used alcohol and marijuana six or more times a month. Likewise, about four percent of gang members used cocaine more than six times a month and 12 to 23 percent of gang members sold drugs six or more times a year, depending on their grade--with 12th grade gang members being almost twice as likely to sell drugs as 8th grade gang members.
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Exhibit 15: 30-day Prevalence of Drug Use and Sales by Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership
8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Alcohol Nongang 0 times 69.2 53.7 43.7 1-2 times 19.4 23.4 27.7 3-5 times 6.8 10.8 13.5 6 + times (chronic) 4.6 12.1 15.1 Gang 0 times 30.4 26.6 24.3 1-2 times 28.7 21.2 25.7 3-5 times 15.0 19.1 20.4 6 + times (chronic) 25.9 33.1 29.6 Marijuana Nongang 0 times 88.7 79.6 77.9 1-2 times 5.5 8.3 9.0 3-5 times 1.9 3.5 3.2 6 + times (chronic) 3.8 8.5 10.0 Gang 0 times 53.1 51.3 49.0 1-2 times 15.1 14.4 13.2 3-5 times 8.2 6.5 9.3 6 + times (chronic) 23.7 27.8 28.5 Cocaine Nongang 0 times 98.5 97.3 96.5 1-2 times 1.1 1.6 1.9 3-5 times .3 .5 .7 6 + times (chronic) .1 .7 .9 Gang 0 times 84.8 85.6 86.7 1-2 times 10.2 7.6 6.0 3-5 times 1.2 2.9 3.3 6 + times (chronic) 3.7 4.0 4.0 Drug Sales (12 Months) Nongang 0 times 96.2 92.0 92.1 1-2 times 2.1 3.4 2.8 3-5 times .5 1.3 1.6 6 + times (regular) 1.2 3.3 3.4 Gang 0 times 70.1 65.4 59.6 1-2 times 11.5 10.6 10.9 3-5 times 6.1 5.8 7.1 6 + times (regular) 12.3 18.2 22.4 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Drug Use and Sales by Grade--For Chronic Drug Use and Frequent Drug Sales Only Alcohol 5.6 2.7 2.0 Marijuana 6.2 3.3 2.9 Cocaine 37.0 5.7 4.4 Drug Sales 10.3 5.5 6.6
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Exhibit 16 shows the incidence of self-reported delinquency by gender, controlling for gang membership. About 40 percent of male gang members and 30 percent of female gang members had been arrested in the past 12 months compared to 10 percent of nongang males and five percent of nongang females. Similarly, 22 percent of male and 10 percent of female gang members had stolen a vehicle in the past 12 months compared to 2-3 percent of nongang male and females. Of special interest is the finding that almost half of all the male gang members and about onethird of the female gang members had self-reported attacking someone with the intention of hurting them. This compares to only 7-12 percent for nongang males and females. Many of the gang members were also found to have self-reported carrying a gun in the past 12 months. Approximately 37 percent of male gang members and 16 percent of female gang members self-reported carrying a gun compared to 1.6 percent of nongang females and eight percent of nongang males. An interesting finding of this research is related to the ratio of girls in gangs selfreported offending relative to nongang boys' delinquency rates. A theme commonly observed is that the girls in gangs are significantly more involved in delinquency than nongang boys. Such a finding highlights the fact that involvement in a gang facilitates delinquent activity beyond that of gender, a characteristic (i.e., being male) that is very strongly associated with delinquency of drug use. Female gang members were twice as likely than male nongang to carry a gun and steal a vehicle, and three times more likely to have been arrested and attacked someone compared to a nongang male within the past 12 months. Exhibit 16: Incidence of Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior in Past 12 Months by Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership Nongang Gang Ratio of Female Gang Female Male Female Male to Male Nongang Been arrested 5.1 10.2 30.3 42.2 3.0:1 Vehicle theft 1.8 3.4 11.4 22.3 2.0:1 Attacked 6.9 11.8 37.4 47.3 3.2:1 someone Carried gun 1.6 8.2 16.1 36.9 2.0:1 Exhibit 17 reports that regardless of ethnicity gang members were more likely to have engaged in delinquency in the past 12 months when compared to nongang members. For most offenses, gang members were three to six times more likely to have self-reported delinquency than their nongang peers. The data show that there were also differences in incidence rates between ethnic groups. For example, Native American and Asian gang members were the most likely to have been arrested within the past 12 months, followed by Hispanics, Whites, and African Americans. In terms of self-reported vehicle theft, Native Americans were the most likely to have reported committing this offense within the past year (23.1 percent), followed by Hispanics (18.4) and Whites (15.3). African Americans and Asians rarely self-reported vehicle theft (6.7, 0.0, respectively). Conversely, about 50 percent of African Americans,
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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Asians, and Native Americans self-reported attacking someone in the past 12 months, whereas about 40 percent of Whites and Hispanics reported attacking someone in the past 12 months. Approximately 30 percent of African American, Native American, and Hispanic respondents self-reported carrying a gun in the past 12 months compared to 25 percent of Whites and 7.7 percent of Asians. Exhibit 17: Incidence of Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior in Past 12 months by Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership White African Native Hispanic Asian American American Nongang Been arrested 7.2 8.5 11.4 7.1 3.7 Vehicle theft 2.3 4.5 3.2 2.8 2.5 Attacked 8.8 12.3 9.9 9.6 4.6 someone Carried gun 4.7 5.7 6.2 4.5 2.5 Gang Been arrested 34.2 25.8 43.8 36.6 46.2 Vehicle theft 15.3 6.7 23.1 18.4 0.0 Attacked 40.1 51.7 49.6 39.7 46.2 someone Carried gun 24.8 36.7 29.7 28.2 7.7 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Ethnicity Been arrested 4.8:1 3.0:1 3.8:1 5.2:1 12.5:1 Vehicle theft 6.7:1 1.5:1 8.3:1 6.6:1 .0:1 Attacked 4.6:1 4.2:1 5.0:1 4.1:1 10.0:1 someone Carried gun 5.3:1 6.4:1 4.8:1 6.3:1 3.1:1
Other 8.3 2.8 12.5 5.8 40.9 21.7 59.1 30.4 4.9:1 7.8:1 4.7:1 5.2:1
Gang Membership Among Youth in Arizona
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The proportion of respondents indicating that they had engaged in delinquent behavior within the past 12 months, in general, did not vary substantially by grade--for either gang or nongang members (See Exhibit 18). However, it should be noted that 10th graders were more likely to self-report delinquency than those in the 8th and 12th grades, but for most of the offenses the differences were slight. Once again, gang members were found to be four to six times more likely to report being arrested, steal a vehicle, attack someone, and carry a gun than nongang members. Exhibit 18: Incidence of Self-Reported Delinquent Behavior in Past 12 months by Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Nongang Been arrested 6.9 7.9 7.8 Vehicle theft 2.4 3.2 1.9 Attacked someone 9.2 10.3 8.0 Carried gun 5.2 4.5 4.7 Gang Been arrested 36.2 39.9 34.0 Vehicle theft 16.5 21.4 13.5 Attacked someone 41.6 45.3 41.2 Carried gun 26.8 29.7 28.6 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Grade Been arrested 5.2:1 5.1:1 4.4:1 Vehicle theft 6.9:1 6.7:1 7.1:1 Attacked someone 4.5:1 4.4:1 5.2:1 Carried gun 5.2:1 6.6:1 6.1:1 As seen in Exhibit 19, gang members were significantly more likely to be chronic offenders when compared to nongang members. In particular, it was found that male gang members, for many of the offense categories, were more than twice as likely to report being a chronic offender when compared to female gang members, who in turn were two to ten times more likely to self-report being a chronic offender when compared to male nongang members. Additionally, the analyses showed that roughly nine percent of male gang members reported being arrested six or more times in the past year, 6.5 percent male gang members reported that they had stolen a vehicle six or more times in the past year, and more than 16 percent of male gang members reported that they had attacked someone with the idea of hurting them six or more times in the past year.
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Exhibit 19: Prevalence of Self-Reported Delinquency by Gender, Controlling for Gang Membership Nongang Gang Ratio of Female Female Male Female Male Gang to Male Nongang Arrested 0 times 94.9 89.8 69.7 57.8 1-2 times 4.4 8.4 18.1 24.9 3-5 times .4 1.3 7.0 8.8 6 + times (chronic) .3 .5 5.2 8.5 10.4:1 Vehicle Theft 0 times 98.2 96.6 88.6 77.7 1-2 times 1.3 2.2 7.4 12.3 3-5 times .3 .5 2.2 3.4 6 + times (chronic) .2 .7 1.8 6.5 2.6:1 Attacked someone 0 times 93.1 88.2 62.6 52.7 1-2 times 5.3 7.9 18.5 21.7 3-5 times .8 1.9 7.5 9.4 6 + times (chronic) .8 2.0 11.3 16.3 5.7:1 Carried gun 0 times 98.4 91.8 83.9 71.4 1-2 times .9 3.3 7.3 11.4 3-5 times .3 1.3 1.5 3.5 6 + times (chronic) .4 3.6 7.3 13.7 2.0:1 With the exception of Asians, gang members were roughly five to 20 times more likely to self-report being chronic delinquents when compared to nongang members (See Exhibit 20). Examining the prevalence rate of self-reported delinquency by ethnicity shows that there were very few chronic delinquents among nongang members, regardless of the ethnic group examined. On the other hand, with the exception of Asians, a sizable proportion of gang members were found to be chronic delinquents. The data showed that Native American gang members were the most likely to report that they had been arrested and engaged in vehicle theft six or more times in the past year, and African American gang members were the most likely to report carrying a weapon and chronically attacking someone with the intention of hurting them. In most of the offense categories, fewer Hispanics and Whites reported being chronic offenders compared to Native Americans and African Americans.
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Exhibit 20: Prevalence of Self-Reported Delinquency by Ethnicity, Controlling for Gang Membership
White African American Native American Hispanic Asian
Other
Arrest Nongang 0 times 92.8 91.5 88.6 92.9 96.3 91.7 1-2 times 6.2 7.3 9.2 5.9 2.9 6.5 3-5 times .7 .8 1.5 .9 .8 1.2 6 + times (chronic) .4 .4 .7 .3 .0 .6 Gang 0 times 65.8 74.2 56.2 63.4 53.8 59.1 1-2 times 21.3 12.9 25.4 22.3 30.8 18.2 3-5 times 7.1 6.5 9.2 7.4 15.4 9.1 6 + times (chronic) 5.8 6.5 9.2 6.8 0.0 13.6 Vehicle Theft Nongang 0 times 97.7 95.5 96.8 97.2 97.5 97.2 1-2 times 1.7 2.4 1.9 1.6 2.1 1.8 3-5 times .3 1.2 .6 .6 .4 .9 6 + times (chronic) .4 .8 .7 .5 .0 .0 Gang 0 times 84.7 93.3 76.9 81.6 100.0 78.3 1-2 times 9.6 .0 13.1 11.0 0.0 17.4 3-5 times 1.9 3.3 3.8 3.6 0.0 0.0 6 + times (chronic) 3.8 3.3 6.2 3.9 0.0 4.3 Attacked someone Nongang 0 times 91.2 87.7 90.1 90.4 95.4 87.5 1-2 times 6.3 9.0 7.5 6.8 2.9 7.5 3-5 times 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4 .8 2.5 6 + times (chronic) 1.3 2.0 1.1 1.4 .8 2.5 Gang 0 times 59.9 48.3 50.4 60.3 53.8 40.9 1-2 times 21.0 24.1 24.4 17.9 23.1 18.2 3-5 times 7.0 6.9 8.7 8.8 15.4 13.6 6 + times (chronic) 12.1 20.7 16.5 13.0 7.7 27.3 Carried gun Nongang 0 times 95.3 94.3 93.8 95.5 97.5 94.2 1-2 times 1.8 2.8 2.2 2.3 .8 3.1 3-5 times .9 .4 1.3 .5 .8 .6 6 + times (chronic) 2.0 2.4 2.6 1.6 .8 2.1 Gang 0 times 75.2 63.3 70.3 71.8 92.3 69.6 1-2 times 10.8 10.0 14.1 10.9 7.7 0.0 3-5 times 2.5 6.7 3.9 2.9 0.0 8.7 6 + times (chronic) 11.5 20.0 11.7 14.4 0.0 21.7 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Grade, for chronic offenders only Arrest 14.5:1 16.3:1 13.1:1 22.7:1 .0:1 22.6:1 Vehicle Theft 9.5:1 4.1:1 8.9:1 7.8:1 .0:1 43.0:1 Attacked someone 9.3:1 10.4:1 15.0:1 9.3:1 9.6:1 10.9:1 Carried gun 5.8:1 8.3:1 4.5:1 9.0:1 .0:1 10.3:1
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Exhibit 21 once again shows that nongang members, regardless of grade, were rarely involved in chronic delinquency. Conversely, gang members, regardless of grade, frequently self-reported delinquency. Tenth grade gang members were more likely to be repeatedly arrested, engaged in chronic vehicle theft and attacked someone more often than 8th and 12th grade gang members. It might have been that before many of the chronic gang offenders reached the 12th grade they had been expelled, quit school, been imprisoned, or were absent the day of the survey; thus reducing the overall prevalence rate among 12th graders. However, it should be pointed out that 12th grade gang members were the most likely to carry a weapon, followed by 10th grade gang members, and 8th grade gang members.
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Exhibit 21: Prevalence of Self-Reported Delinquency by Grade, Controlling for Gang Membership
8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade Arrest Nongang 0 times 93.1 92.1 92.2 1-2 times 5.6 6.4 6.9 3-5 times .8 1.1 .6 6 + times (chronic) .5 .4 .3 Gang 0 times 63.8 60.1 66.0 1-2 times 20.8 22.0 23.7 3-5 times 8.5 7.9 7.1 6 + times (chronic) 6.9 10.0 3.2 Vehicle Theft Nongang 0 times 97.6 96.8 98.1 1-2 times 1.5 2.1 1.3 3-5 times .4 .6 .2 6 + times (chronic) .5 .5 .4 Gang 0 times 88.6 77.7 82.0 1-2 times 7.4 12.3 10.4 3-5 times 2.2 3.4 2.9 6 + times (chronic) 1.8 6.5 4.7 Attacked someone Nongang 0 times 90.8 89.7 92.0 1-2 times 6.7 7.4 5.4 3-5 times 1.0 1.5 1.2 6 + times (chronic) 1.5 1.3 1.3 Gang 0 times 58.4 54.7 58.8 1-2 times 19.5 20.6 20.9 3-5 times 8.6 8.7 7.8 6 + times (chronic) 13.6 16.0 12.4 Carried gun Nongang 0 times 94.8 95.5 95.3 1-2 times 2.7 1.8 1.8 3-5 times .7 .9 .7 6 + times (chronic) 1.8 1.8 2.2 Gang 0 times 73.2 70.3 71.4 1-2 times 13.0 11.8 7.1 3-5 times 4.2 3.4 2.6 6 + times (chronic) 9.6 14.5 18.8 Ratio of Gang to Nongang Delinquency by Grade, for chronic offenders only Arrest 13.8:1 25.0:1 10.7:1 Vehicle Theft 3.6:1 13.0:1 11.8:1 Attacked someone 9.1:1 12.3:1 9.5:1 Carried gun 5.3:1 8.1:1 8.5:1
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THE IMPACT OF GANGS ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR, AND CLIMATE Exhibit 22 shows the number of missed school days due to skipping and the number of times individuals were suspended by gang membership. The exhibit reports that gang members were more likely to skip school and skipped school more often than nongang members. About 20 percent of nongang members and 33 percent of gang members reported skipping school at least once in the past year. Furthermore, gang members were almost five times more likely to report skipping school six or more times a year. Likewise, gang members were much more likely to report being suspended from school and reported being suspended from school more often than nongang members. About 11 percent of nongang members and 41 percent of gang members reported being suspended at least once in the past 12 months. Gang members were also over eight times more likely to report being suspended six or more times in the past 12 months compared to nongang members. Exhibit 22: School Performance by Gang and Nongang Members Nongang Gang Ratio of Gang to Nongang Missed A Day of School Because of Skipping Or Cutting 0 times 79.7 66.7 1-2 times 14.0 17.7 3-5 times 4.9 9.0 6 + times 1.4 6.5 4:6 Been Suspended In Last 12 Months 0 times 88.9 58.7 1-2 times 9.0 27.8 3-5 times 1.3 7.6 6 + times .7 5.9 8:4 The number of times gang and nongang members engaged in delinquent behavior at school was also examined. Exhibit 23 reports that gang members were significantly more likely to frequently bring a weapon or gun to school. For example, gang members were 3.4 times more likely to bring a weapon to school (in the past 30 days) and 10.5 times more likely to bring a gun to school (in the past 12 months) than nongang members. Additionally, gang members were 3.7 times more likely to have been frequently drunk or high at school, 4.9 times more likely to have been frequently threatened or injured at school, and 9.5 times more likely to be in six or more fights at school (within a 12 month period) than nongang members.
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Exhibit 23: Delinquent Behavior in School by Gang and Nongang Members Nongang Gang Ratio of Gang to Nongang Carried a Weapon to School in Past 30 Days 0 times 94.2 75.6 1 time 1.3 6.3 2-3 times 1.1 5.6 4-5 times .4 2.3 6+ times 3.0 10.2 3:4 Taken Handgun to School in Last 12 Months 0 times 99.2 88.7 1-2 times .4 5.5 3-5 times .1 1.5 6 + times .4 4.2 10:5 Drunk or High at School in Last 12 Months 0 times 82.0 46.0 1-2 times 8.0 19.1 3-5 times 3.1 8.9 6 + times 7.0 26.0 3:7 Threatened or Injured with Weapon at School (in last 12 months) 0 times 92.6 76.6 1 time 3.5 7.5 2-3 times 2.3 8.2 4 + times 1.6 7.8 4:9 Been in a Fight At School in Last 12 Months 0 times 87.8 56.9 1 time 7.6 16.4 2-3 times 3.4 14.4 4 + times 1.3 12.3 9:5 Exhibit 24 reports on school performance by the seriousness of the gang problem in the respondents' school. Exhibit 24 on the following page shows that schools with a serious gang problem were more likely to have students miss school for both reasons of illness and skipping. For instance, only 12 percent of respondents who attended a school with a minor gang problem reported missing three or more days of school due to illness, compared to about 21 percent at schools with an average gang problem, and almost 26 percent at schools with a serious gang problem. Likewise, 5.1 percent of respondents who attended a school with a minor gang problem reported missing three or more days of school due to skipping, compared to 7.9 percent at a school with an average gang problem, and 8.4 percent at a school with a serious gang problem.
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Minor Gang Average Gang Problem Problem School Days Missed Because of Illness 0 times 60.0 47.3 1 time 16.4 17.3 2 times 11.5 14.7 3 + times 12.1 20.7 School Days Missed Because of Skipping or Cutting 0 times 79.0 78.4 1 time 10.9 7.9 2 times 5.0 5.9 3 + times 5.1 7.9
Exhibit 24: School Performance by Level of School's Gang Problem
Serious Gang Problem 44.4 16.4 13.6 25.5 80.7 5.9 4.9 8.4
The amount of school related delinquency was examined by the seriousness of the school's gang problem. Exhibit 25 illustrates that respondents who attended schools with a serious gang problem were more likely to report delinquency and victimization than students attending schools with a minor or moderate gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were roughly three times more likely to report frequently getting into fights, repeatedly being threatened/injured with a weapon, and frequently bringing a handgun to school when compared to students attending schools with minor or moderate gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were also significantly more likely to report being drunk or high six or more times at school and were more likely to report bringing a weapon to school within the past 30 days.
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Exhibit 25: Amount of School-Related Delinquency by School Gang Problem
Minor Gang Problem 94.9 1.0 .8 3.3 Average Gang Problem 92.5 1.7 1.5 4.2
Carried Weapon to School in Past 30-Days 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Been Threatened/Injured with a Weapon at School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Number of Times in a Fight at School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Number of Times Drunk or High at School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times Number of Times Taken a Handgun to School in Past 12 Months 0 times 1-2 times 3-5 times 6 + times
Serious Gang Problem 89.0 3.0 3.2 4.8
92.6 3.5 2.3 1.6 89.5 6.2 2.9 1.5 80.3 8.2 3.2 8.3
91.7 3.6 2.8 1.9 85.1 8.7 4.3 1.8 81.1 8.2 3.2 7.5
87.3 6.2 2.6 4.0 75.9 12.5 6.9 4.8 69.2 13.5 5.5 11.9
99.1 .3 .1 .5
98.5 .7 .2 .6
96.0 2.0 .3 1.7
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Exhibits 26 and 27 show student perceptions of safety and fear by the seriousness of the school's gang problem. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were almost three times more likely to report not feeling safe at their school compared to respondents attending schools with a minor gang problem. Additionally, 10 percent of students attending a school with a serious gang problem reported missing at least one day of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school. Students attending schools with a serious gang problem were five times more likely to miss four or more days of school within the past 30 days because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school compared to respondents attending a school with a minor gang problem. Exhibit 26: School Safety and Fear by Level of School's Gang Problem
I feel safe at my school No Yes Number of days did not go to school because felt that it was unsafe at school or on the way to school (past 30 days) 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4 + times Minor Gang Problem 10.2 89.8 Average Gang Problem 17.4 82.6 Serious Gang Problem 27.8 72.2
98.0 1.0 .5 .6
96.0 2.2 .9 .9
91.1 4.2 2.2 2.6
Exhibit 27: Percent of Students that Do Not Feel Safe at School by School Gang Problem
30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Minor Gang Problem Average Gang Problem
Level of School's Gang Problem
Percent
Serious Gang Problem
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SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS The purpose of the present study was to advance the understanding of the scope and nature of the gang problem in Arizona. In particular, this report focused on three major issues: (1) the correlates of gang involvement; (2) the relationship between gangs, crime, and drugs; and (3) the impact of gang participation on school performance, school behavior, and school climate. These issues were examined using data from the Arizona Youth Survey. The survey was randomly administered to 12,203 students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades in 63 schools across the state. The findings showed that the proportion of youth involved in gangs varied by demographic characteristics and family background. Minority males were the most likely to self-admit to gang membership. However, it is important to emphasize that a large proportion of total gang members were female (39.7 percent), and a substantial number of Native Americans self-admitted to gang membership (10.7 percent). Gang members were disproportionately likely to come from homes with a single parent or from a home with a different parental arrangement other than an intact/single parent family. Additionally, the parents of gang members were less educated and were less likely to use English at home than the parents of nongang members. More than half of gang members joined their gangs when they were 13 years old or younger. Most stated that they joined their gangs for reasons of friendship, but many also stated that they joined for reasons of protection/safety or because their parent(s) were gang members. Those individuals who joined their gangs for protection or because their parent(s) were gang members were the most likely to want to leave the gang. The findings also suggested that youth who were exposed to poor neighborhood conditions, anti-social and dysfunctional parents and peers, and who had anti-social attitudes and early experiences with problem behavior were at greater risk for gang membership. Additionally, the findings showed that gang members were less likely to be exposed to protective factors. For example, they were less likely to have opportunities for pro-social neighborhood, family, and school activities and were less likely to be rewarded for good behavior by their neighbors, family, or school than nongang members. This research also indicated that gang members were significantly more likely to have ever engaged in delinquency, drug use, and drug sales and engaged in these activities more often than nongang members. The findings showed that the incidence and prevalence of delinquency, drug use, and sales varied by gender, ethnicity, and grade. Male gang members were the most likely to be involved in delinquency, drug use and sales, followed by female gang members, male nongang members, and female nongang members. An interesting finding of this research is related to the ratio of gang girls selfreported offending relative to nongang boys delinquency rates. Female gang members are significantly more involved in delinquency than nongang males. Such a finding
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highlights the fact that involvement in a gang facilitates delinquent activity beyond that of gender, a characteristic that is very strongly associated with delinquency of drug use. These findings suggest that female gang members are not simply "wanna-be gang members" or the "girlfriends of gang members;" rather, this research suggests that female gang members engage in the same types of delinquency, drug use, and drug sales as their male peers, albeit at a lower frequency. This contrasts with the fact that female gang members only make up about 10 percent of documented gang members in the state of Arizona. Delinquency, drug use and sales also varied by ethnicity. The findings here were similar to many past studies that have found that minority gang members are more actively involved in delinquency and drug use and sales than non-minority gang members. The data suggested that African American gang members were the most likely to be involved in violent crime, drug sales, and were more likely to be chronic users of cocaine. Native American and Hispanic gang members, on the other hand, were more likely to be arrested and involved with property crimes. Asians, followed by whites, reported the least amount of delinquency, drug use, and sales. In all three grade levels examined, gang members were substantially more likely to engage in delinquency and drug use than nongang members. With regard to drug use and sales, as the youth progressed from one grade to the next the probability of self-reporting drug use and sales also increased. However, this trend did not appear for violent and property crime. Tenth graders, in general, were more likely to engage in delinquency than 8th or 12th graders. This finding might have been an artifact of the sampling strategy used for this study. Before many of the chronic gang offenders reached the 12th grade they might have been expelled, quit school, been imprisoned, or simply absent on the day of the survey; thus reducing the prevalence of delinquency among 12th graders. Last, gang membership had a pronounced impact on school performance and behavior. Gang members were more likely to skip school and were more likely to have been suspended than nongang members. Similarly, gang members were more likely to carry a weapon to school, take a handgun to school, be drunk or high at school, in a fight at school, and more likely to have been threatened or injured with a weapon at school than nongang members. Schools with serious gang problems were also more likely to have students miss school, engage in delinquency and drug use, and be threatened or injured with a weapon than students attending schools with minor or moderate gang problems. Similarly, students attending schools with a serious gang problem were substantially more likely to report not feeling safe at their school and were much more likely to frequently miss school because they felt that it was unsafe at school or on their way to school. The findings reported here have policy implications for prevention, intervention, and suppression strategies. First, the findings showed that there are numerous community, family, and school factors that influence gang membership. Prevention efforts and resources should be targeted toward youth that are exposed to multiple risk factors. Decreasing the number of risk factors in the environment of these youth might go far to prevent future gang membership and criminality. Second, the findings
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showed that there are numerous reasons why youth join gangs. Most youth were found to be pulled into a gang for reasons of friendship and these gang members were the least likely to want to leave their gang. On the other hand, some gang members were pushed into their gang for protection or for family reasons. These individuals were the most likely to want to get out of their gang. As a consequence, a single, broad-based intervention strategy targeted toward all gang youth would not likely have an effect in reducing gang membership. Rather, different intervention strategies are needed to address the specific factors influencing gang membership, if such efforts are going to be successful. Third, the findings here, coupled with past research, suggest that gang members are more criminally active than nongang members. Suppression efforts targeted toward gang members hold the possibility of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the police by focusing resources on those that are the most likely to engage in crime and delinquency.
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Appendix A
Item-Construct Dictionary for the
ARIZONA YOUTH SURVEY
PREPARED BY
Southwest Prevention Center (FY 02)
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DEMOGRAPHICS How old are you? 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 or older (Q001) What grade are you in? 8th 10th 12th (Q002)
Are you: Female Male (Q003) What do you consider yourself to be? (Choose one best answer) (Q004) White, not of Hispanic Origin Black or African American American Indian/Native American, Eskimo, or Aleut Spanish/Hispanic/Latino Mexican American Mexican Cuban Other Spanish Asian or Pacific Islander Chinese Filipino Hawaiian Korean Vietnamese Other Asian or Pacific Islander Other (Please Specify _________) Think of where you live most of the time. Which of the following people live with you? (Choose all that apply) (Q005 a-p) Mother Father Other Adults Foster Mother Foster Father Sister(s) Stepmother Stepfather Stepsister(s) Grandmother Grandfather Brother(s) Aunt Uncle Stepbrother (s) Other children How many brothers and sisters, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have that are older than you? (Q006) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more Chicano Puerto Rican Central American South American Japanese Asian Indian Samoan Guamanian Cambodian
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How many brothers and sisters, including stepbrothers and stepsisters, do you have that are younger than you? (Q007) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more What is the language you use most often at home? English Spanish Another Language (Q008) What is the highest level of schooling your father completed? (Q009) Completed grade school or less Some high school Completed high school Some school Completed college Graduate or professional school after college Do not know Does not apply What is the highest level of schooling your mother completed? (Q010) Completed grade school or less Some high school Completed high school Some school Completed college Graduate or professional school after college Do not know Does not apply
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COMMUNITY: Low Neighborhood Attachment I like my neighborhood. (Q083) If I had to move, I would miss the neighborhood I now live in. (Q081) I would like to get out of my neighborhood. (Q093) NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
COMMUNITY: Community Disorganization How much do each of the following statements describe your neighborhood? (Q085) Crime and/or drug selling (Q085a) Fights (Q085b) Lots of empty or abandoned buildings (Q085c) Lots of graffiti (Q085d) I feel safe in my neighborhood. (Q091) NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
COMMUNITY: Transitions and Mobility Have you changed homes in past year (the last 12 months) (Q094) NO YES 7 or more times
How many times have you changed homes since kindergarten? (Q087) Never 1-2 times 3-4 times 5-6 times Have you changed schools in the past year (the last 12 months)? (Q090) NO YES How many times have you changed schools since kindergarten? (Q092) Never 1-2 times 3-4 times 5-6 times People move in and out of my neighborhood a lot. (Q086) NO! no yes YES!
7 or more times
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COMMUNITY: Laws and Norms Favorable to Drug Use How wrong would most adults in your neighborhood think it is for kids your age: (Q079) To use marijuana? (Q079a) To drink alcohol? (Q079b) To smoke cigarettes? (Q079c) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no Not Wrong at all Not Wrong at all Not Wrong at all yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES!
If a kid drank some beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q074) If a kid smokes marijuana in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q072) If a kid carried a handgun in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q076) If a kid smoked cigarettes in your neighborhood, would he or she be caught by the police? (Q078)
COMMUNITY: Perceived Availability of Drugs If you wanted to get some beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q070) If you wanted to get some cigarettes, how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q071) If you wanted to get some marijuana, how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q077) If you wanted to get drugs like cocaine, LSD, or amphetamines, how easy would it be for you to get some? (Q073) If you wanted to get a handgun, how easy would it be for you to get one? (Q075) Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy
Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy Very hard Sort of hard Sort of easy Very easy
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COMMUNITY: Opportunities for Positive Involvement There are lots of adults in my neighborhood I could talk to about something important. (Q084) Which of the following activities for people your age are available in your community? (Q089) Sports teams (Q089a) Scouting (Q089b) Boys and girls clubs (Q089c) 4-H clubs (Q089d) Service clubs (Q089e) No No No No No Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, but I don't participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate Yes, and I participate NO! no yes YES!
COMMUNITY: Rewards for Conventional Involvement My neighbors notice when I am doing a good job and let me know about it. (Q082) There are people in my neighborhood who encourage me to do my best. (Q095) There are people in my neighborhood who are proud of me when I do something well. (Q088) NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
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FAMILY: Poor Family Management My parents ask if I have gotten my homework done. (Q120) My parents want me to call if I am going to be late getting home. (Q104) Would your parents know if you did not come home on time? (Q122) When I am not at home, one of my parents knows where I am and who I am with. (Q102) The rules in my family are clear. (Q099) My family has clear rules about alcohol and drug use. (Q106) If you drank some beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? (Q105) If you skipped school without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? (Q108) NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
If you carried a handgun without your parents' permission, would you be caught by your parents? (Q107) NO!
FAMILY: Conflict People in my family often insult or yell at each other. (Q101) People in my family have serious arguments. (Q121) We argue about the same things in my family over and over. (Q103) NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
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FAMILY: History of Antisocial Behavior Has anyone in your family ever had a severe alcohol or drug problem? (Q100) Have any of your brothers or sisters ever: (Q098) Drunk beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin)? (Q098a) Smoked marijuana? (Q098b) Smoked cigarettes? (Q098c) Taken a handgun to school? (Q098d) Been suspended or expelled from school? (Q098e) About how many adults have you known personally who in the past year have: (Q080) Used marijuana, crack, cocaine, or other drugs? (Q080a) Sold or dealt drugs? (Q080b) Done other things that could get them in trouble with the police, like stealing, selling stolen goods, mugging or assaulting others, etc? (Q080c) Gotten drunk or high? (Q080d) None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults None 1 adult 2 adults 3 or 4 adults 5 or more adults No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters I don't have any brothers or sisters No Yes
FAMILY: Parental Attitudes Favorable Toward Drug Use How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to: (Q097) Drink beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin regularly (at least once or twice a month)? (Q097a) Smoke cigarettes? (Q097b) Smoke marijuana? (Q097c) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
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FAMILY: Parental Attitudes Favorable to Antisocial Behavior Steal anything worth more than $5.00? (Q097d) Draw graffiti, write things, or draw pictures on building or other property (Q097e) Pick a fight with someone? (Q097f) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
FAMILY: Attachment Do you feel very close to your mother? (Q110) Do you share your thoughts and feelings with your mother? (Q111) Do you feel very close to your father? (Q118) Do you share your thoughts and feelings with your father? (Q114) NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES!
FAMILY: Opportunities for Positive Involvement My parents give me lots of chances to do fun things with them. (Q119) My parents ask me what I think before most family decisions affecting me are made. (Q112) If I had a personal problem, I could ask my mom or dad for help. (Q117) FAMILY: Rewards for Conventional Involvement My parents notice when I am doing a good job, and let me know about it. (Q109) How often do your parents tell you that they are proud of you for something you have done? (Q113) Do you enjoy spending time with your mother? (Q115) Do you enjoy spending time with your father? (Q116) Never or almost never Never or almost never NO! NO! no no yes yes Sometimes Sometimes YES! YES! Often Often All the time All the time NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES!
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SCHOOL: Academic Failure Putting them all together, what were your grades like last year? (Q011) Mostly F's Mostly D's NO! no Mostly C's yes YES! Mostly B's Mostly A's
Are your school grades better than the grades of most students in your class? (Q025)
SCHOOL: Little Commitment to School How often do you feel that the school work you are assigned is meaningful and important. (Q027) Never How interesting are most of your courses to you? (Q028) Very interesting and stimulating How important do you think the things you are learning in school are going to be for your later life? (Q029) Very important Seldom Sometimes Often Almost Always Very dull
Quite interesting
Fairly interesting
Slightly dull
Quite important
Fairly important
Slightly important
Not at all important
Now thinking back over the past year in school, how often did you: (Q030) Enjoy being in school? (Q030a) Hate being in school? (Q030b) Try to do your best work in school? (Q030c) Never Never Never Seldom Seldom Seldom Sometimes Sometimes Sometimes Often Often Often Almost always Almost always Almost always
During the LAST FOUR WEEKS how many whole days of school have you missed (Q012) Because of illness? (Q012a) Because you skipped or "cut"? (Q012b) For other reasons? (Q012c) None None None 1 day 1 day 1 day 2 days 2 days 2 days 3 days 3 days 3 days 4-5 days 4-5 days 4-5 days 6-10 days 6-10 days 6-10 days 11 or more days 11 or more days 11 or more days
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SCHOOL: Opportunities for Positive Involvement In my school, students have lots of chances to help decide things like class activities and rules. (Q017) There are lots of chances for students in my school to talk with a teacher one-on-one. (Q021) Teachers ask me to work on special classroom projects. (Q018) There are a lot of chances for students in my school to get involved in sports, clubs, and other school activities outside of class. (Q020) I have lots of chances to be part of class discussions or activities. (Q026) SCHOOL: Rewards for Conventional Involvement My teacher(s) notices when I am doing a good job and lets me know about it. (Q019) The school lets my parents know when I have done something well. (Q023) My teachers praise me when I work hard in school. (Q024) SCHOOL: Safety I feel safe at my school. (Q022) NO! no yes YES! NO! NO! NO! no no no yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no no yes yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
During the past 30 days, on how many days did you carry a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club on school property? (Q013) 0 days 1 day 2-3 days 4-5 days 6 or more days
During the past 30 days, on how many days did you not go to school because you felt you would be unsafe at school or on your way to or from school? (Q014) 0 days 1 day 2-3 days 4-5 days 6 or more days
During the past 12 months, how many times has someone threatened or injured you with a weapon such as a gun, knife, or club on school property? (Q015) 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4-5 times 6-7 times 8-9 times 10-11 times 12 or more
During the past 12 months, how many times were you in a physical fight on school property? (Q016) 0 times 1 time 2-3 times 4-5 times 6-7 times 8-9 times 10-11 times 12 or more
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Rebelliousness I do the opposite of what people tell me, just to get them mad. (Q037) I ignore rules that get in my way. (Q034) I like to see how much I can get away with. (Q050) PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Early Initiation of Drug Use How old were you when you first: (Q032) Smoked marijuana? (Q032a) Smoked a cigarette, even just a puff? (Q032b) Had more than a sip or two of beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example vodka, whiskey, or gin)? (Q032c) Began drinking alcoholic beverages regularly that is, at least once or twice a month? (Q032d) Tried smokeless tobacco? (Q032e) Smoked marijuana? (Q032f) REPEAT of 32a Used cocaine or crack? (Q032g) Used methamphetamines (meth, crystal, crank)? (Q032h) Used LSD or other psychedelics? (Q032i) Sniffed glue, breathed the contents of an aerosol spray can, or inhaled other gases or sprays, in order to get high? (Q032j) Taken steroids without a doctor's orders? (Q032k) Used heroin or other narcotic? (Q032l) Used Derbisol? (Q032m) Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older Very false Very false Very false Somewhat false Somewhat false Somewhat false Somewhat true Somewhat true Somewhat true Very true Very true Very true
Used Quaaludes, barbiturates, or tranquilizers? (Q032n) Used Ecstasy? (Q032o)
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Early Initiation of Antisocial Behavior Got suspended from school? (Q032p) Got arrested? (Q032q) Carried a handgun? (Q032r) Attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? (Q032s) Never Have Never Have Never Have Never Have 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older 17 or older
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Antisocial Behavior How many times in the past year (the last 12 months) have you: (Q043) Been suspended from school? (Q043a) Carried a handgun? (Q043b) Sold illegal drugs? (Q043c) Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or motorcycle? (Q043d) been arrested? (Q 043e) attacked someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? (Q043f) been drunk or high at school? (Q043g) taken a handgun to school? (Q043h) Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times Never 1 to 2 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 3 to 5 Times 6 to 9 Times 10 to 19 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 20 to 29 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 30 to 39 Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times 40+ Times
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PEER INDIVIDUAL: Favorable Attitudes Towards Antisocial Behavior How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to: (Q033) Take a handgun to school? (Q033a) Steal anything worth more than $5.00 (Q033b) Pick a fight with someone (Q033c) Attack someone with the idea of seriously hurting them? (Q033d) Stay away from school all day when their parents think they are at school? (Q033e) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Favorable Attitudes Towards Drug Use How wrong do you think it is for someone your age to: (Q033) Drink beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) regularly (at least once or twice a month)? (Q033f) smoke cigarettes? (Q033g) smoke marijuana? (Q033h) use LSD, cocaine, amphetamines, or another illegal drug? (Q033i) Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Very Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong A Little Bit Wrong Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All Not Wrong at All
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Perceived Risks of Drug Use How much do you think people risk harming themselves (Physically or in other ways) if they: (Q055) Smoke one or more packs of cigarettes per day?(Q055a) Try marijuana once or twice? (Q055b) Smoke marijuana regularly (Q055c) Take one or two drinks of an alcohol beverage (beer, wine, liquor) nearly every day? (Q055d) No risk No risk No risk No risk Slight risk Slight risk Slight risk Slight risk Moderate risk Moderate risk Moderate risk Moderate risk Great risk Great risk Great risk Great risk
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Friends' Use of Drugs Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 months), how many of your best friends have: (Q031) Smoked cigarettes? (Q031a) Tried beer, wine, or hard liquor (for example, vodka, whiskey, or gin) When their parents didn't know about it? (Q031b) Used marijuana? (Q031c) Used LSD, cocaine, amphetamines, or other illegal drugs? (Q031d) PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Interaction with Antisocial Peers Been suspended from school? (Q031e) Carried a handgun? (Q031f) Sold illegal drugs (Q031g) Stolen or tried to steal a motor vehicle such as a car or a motorcycle? (Q031h) Been arrested? (Q031i) Dropped out of school? (Q031j) PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Depression Sometimes I think that life is not worth it. (Q051) At times I think that I am no good at all. (Q052) All in all, I am inclined to think that I am a failure. (Q053) In the past year have you felt depressed or sad most days, even if you felt okay sometimes. (Q054) NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES! None None None None None None 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 None None None None 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Employment If you have a job (part-time or full-time), how much do you work? (Q096) I do not have a job Less than 20 hrs per week 30-40 hrs per week More than 40 hrs per week
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Sensation Seeking How many times have you done the following things: (Q039) Done what feels good no matter what. (Q039a) Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month About once a month About once a month About once a month Two or three times a month Two or three times a month Two or three times a month Once a week or more Once a week or more Once a week or more
Done something dangerous because someone dared you to do it. (Q039b) Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month Done crazy things even if they are a little dangerous. (Q039c) Never I've done it, but not in the past year Less than once a month
PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Rewards for Antisocial Involvement What are the chances you would be seen as cool if you: (Q044) Smoked cigarettes? (Q044a) Began drinking alcoholic beverages regularly, at least once or twice a month? (Q044b) Smoked marijuana? (Q044c) Carried a handgun? (Q044d) No or very little chance No or very little chance No or very little chance No or very little chance Little chance Little chance Little chance Little chance Some chance Some chance Some chance Some chance Pretty good chance Pretty good chance Pretty good chance Pretty good chance Very good chance Very good chance Very good chance Very good chance
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Social Skills You are looking at CD's in the music store with a friend. You look up and see her slip a CD under her coat. She smiles and says, "Which one do you want? Go ahead, take it while nobody's around." There is no one in sight, no employees or other customers. What would you do now? (Q045) Ignore her Grab a CD and leave the store Tell her to put the CD back Act like it is a joke, and ask her to put the CD back It is 8:00 on a weeknight and you are about to go over to a friend's house when your mother asks you where you are going. You say, "Oh, just going to go hang out with some friends." She says, "No, you'll just get into trouble if you go out. Stay home tonight." What would you do now? (Q046) Leave the house anyway Explain what you are going to do with your friends, tell her when you will get home, and ask if you can go out Not say anything and start watching TV Get into an argument with her You are visiting another part of town, and you do not know any of the people your age there. You are walking down the street, and some teenager you do not know is walking toward you. He is about your size, and as he is about to pass you, he deliberately bumps into you and you almost lose your balance. What would you say or do? (Q047) Push the person back Say "Excuse me" and keep on walking Say "Watch where you're going" and keep on walking Swear at the person and walk away You are at a party at someone's house, and one of your friends offers you a drink containing alcohol. What would you say or do? (Q048) Drink it Tell your friend, "No thanks, I don't drink" and suggest that you and your friend go and do something else Just say, "No thanks" and walk away Make up a good excuse, tell your friend you had something else to do, and leave
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PEER-INDIVIDUAL: Belief in the Moral Order I think it is okay to take something without asking if you can get away with it. (Q038) I think it is okay to cheat at school. (Q049) It is all right to beat up people if they start the fight. (Q035) It is important to be honest with your parents, even if they become upset or you get punished. (Q036) NO! NO! NO! NO! no no no no yes yes yes yes YES! YES! YES! YES!
OUTCOME: Gang Involvement How old were you when you first: (Q032) Belonged to a gang? (Q032t) Have you ever belonged to a gang? (Q040) No, not interested Protection/safety Never Have Never Have 10 or Younger 10 or Younger 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 or older 17 or older
No, but would like to Friendship Yes
Yes, in the past Yes, belong now Yes, but would like to get out Other I have never belonged to a gang
If you have ever belonged to a gang, what was the one major reason you joined? (Q041)
Parents are in a gang No
If you have ever belonged to a gang, did the gang have a name? (Q042)
I never have belonged to a gang
Think of your four best friends ( the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 months), how many of your best friends have: Been members of a gang? (Q031k) RESPONSE HONESTY How important were these questions? (Q123) Not too important Fairly important Important Very Important I was honest some of the time None 1 2 3 4
How honest were you in filling out this survey? (Q124)
I was very honest I was honest pretty much of the time I was honest once in a while I was not honest at all
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DRUG USE OUTCOMES
How frequently have you used smokeless tobacco during the past 30 days? (Q056) Never Once or twice Once or twice a week About once a day More than once a day
How frequently have you smoked cigarettes during the past 30 days? (Q057) Not at all Less than one cigarette per day One to five cigarettes per day About one-half pack per day Two packs or more per day
About one pack per day
About one and one-half packs per day
On how many occasions (if any) have you had beer, wine, or hard liquor during the past 30 days? (Q058) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
Think back over the last two weeks. How many times have you had five or more alcoholic drinks in a row? (Q059) None 1 time 2 times 3-5 times 6-9 times 10 or more times
On how many occasions (if any) have you used marijuana during the past 30 days? (Q060) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used LSD or other psychedelics during the past 30 days? (Q061) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used cocaine or crack during the past 30 days? (Q062) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you sniffed glue, breathed the contents of an aerosol spray can, or inhaled other gases or sprays in order to get high during the past 30 days? (Q063) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
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DRUG USE OUTCOMES
On how many occasions (if any) have you taken methamphetamines in the past 30 days? (Q064) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used steroids without a doctor's permission during the past 30 days? (Q065) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used heroin or other narcotics during the past 30 days? (Q066) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used Quaaludes, barbiturates, or tranquilizers during the past 30 days? (Q067) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used ecstasy during the past 30 days? (Q068) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
On how many occasions (if any) have you used derbisol during the past 30 days? (069) 0-occasions 1-2 occasions 3-5 occasions 6-9 occasions 10-19 occasions 20-39 occasions 40 or more occasions
Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 month), how many of your best friends have: Attended a RAVE Party? (Q031l) None 1 2 3 4
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